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JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER
1757-1794
CORRESPONDENCE OF
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER
(PEOPLE’S REPRESENTATIVE TO THE CONVENTION)
DURING HIS MISSION IN BRITTANY,
1793-1794
COLLECTED, TRANSLATED AND ANNOTATED BY
E.H. CARRIER, MA, MSc. FR.HIST.S.
LONDON: JOHN LANE: THE BODLEY HEAD, W.
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY. MCMXX
Printed in Great Britain at
Che Mayflower Press,
Plymouth
William Brendon &. Son, Ltd.
INTRODUCTORY
NANTES was among the first of the great French
towns to accept the new Republican Government.
This port, situated near the mouth of the Loire,
was the natural gateway to the insurgent depart-
ments of Morbihan and La Vendée. The revolted
inhabitants of these regions, known under the
generic and convenient appellation of ‘‘ brigands,”’
were in close alliance with the English fleet that
blockaded the coast, and the émigrés—that is, the
nobles who had emigrated and were preparing to
return to take service with the coalition against
their country—tresiding in the Channel Islands ;
and in consequence became sources of great
anxiety to the leaders of the Republic, which was
as yet insecurely established at home and
threatened from abroad. In 1793 the head-
quarters of the Generals of the Army of the West
were fixed at Nantes, and various “ Representa-
tives on Mission’’ were sent thither by the
Convention with proconsular powers over the
Commune and the surrounding districts.
vii
020660
viii INTRODUCTORY
Before long two parties were formed in the
National Assembly, which were known as the
Mountain and the Gironde, the first receiving its
name from the position occupied by its members
on the upper benches of the Assembly Hall, and
the second from that Department which furnished
its most notable statesmen. On May 31st, and
the first three days of June, riots occurred in
Paris, and the Commune insisted upon the expul-
sion of certain proscribed Girondins from the
Convention whose political views were considered
to have brought the country into grave danger.
These “ fugitive members,” as they were called,
hastening to the provinces, stirred up public
opinion, not so much in favour of the royalists
as in hostility to the existing Government. This
movement was known as “ federalism.”
This new danger of a “ faction’’ desiring a
“federated ’’ rather than a ‘“‘ One and Indivisible”’
Republic added enormously to those already
threatening externally by the land and sea forces
of five allied nations, and internally by the
Catholic-Royalist rising of the Vendée. This
accounts for the bitterness displayed towards the
‘‘ federalists,’ who as Republicans were less
honest enemies than “‘ traitors’ to their cause.
VARIANT SPELLING OF DIFFERENT
NAMES
THE names of certain persons and places dealt
with in this correspondence are spelt differently,
according to the author of the letter and the
source from which it was obtained. The early
revolutionary letters and papers give Barrére,
Charrette, etc., and this change can easily be
traced in the Moniteur. For it became aristo-
cratic and therefore ‘‘ suspect ’’ to have a useless
letter to one’s name, and the Revolutionists
savouring of aristocracy gladly underwent the
curtailing process. A Thermidorian pamphlet
even facetiously proposes that a new verb should
be coined to express a certain kind of revolutionary
operation. In Fréron’s journal, L’Ovateur du
Peuple, we get the following: ‘‘ As when one
wishes to generalize the revolutionary services
rendered at Paris by Robespierre, at Arras by
Le Bon, at Lyons by Collot,* at Orange by another
person,” one will be able to say ‘ he has carriered
(carrié) at Arras, he has carriered at Lyons, he
has carriered at Orange, and so on,’”’ while
1 Collot d’Herbois. 2 Maignet.
ix
x VARIANT SPELLING
another journal remarks that in conformity with
revolutionary pripciples this new verb ought
to be written ‘“‘ Carier.”’
Whatever his sources, Aulard uses the more
modern spelling. Thus in Carrier’s letters and
reports in their originals we find Charrette (it
being a good point for the Republicans to keep
in view M. de Charrette’s nobility), whereas the
Recueil always uses the shortened form.
Other words of variant spelling are: Tle and
Ille ; Noirmoutier and Noirmoutiers ; Niort and
Nort ; Lebatteux, Lebatteaux, and Le Batteux ;
Thréhouard, Tréhouart, Tréhouard; Rhédon,
Rédon, Redon; L’Orient and Lorient, etc.
FOREWORD
My purpose in writing the following pages is to
_ place upon record a full, clear, and unbiased
account of Jean-Baptiste Carrier, whose personal
character and political reputation have suffered
from undeserved obloquy ; and, incidentally, to
open up a new aspect of the French Revolution
in which he played so notorious a part. By the
courtesy of the French Government I was per-
mitted to examine and copy from the National
Archives a number of the official and personal
documents which hitherto have not been pub-
lished, or have been made public in more or less
mutilated form. Here were reports of the
National Convention containing his speeches
in that Assembly ; sundry communications which
passed between him and the Committees of
Government, together with a vast mass of un-
analysed material relating to the “ eighty-three
counts’ upon which he was indicted, each section
helping to elucidate and illuminate what was
obscure in some other.
xi
Xil FOREWORD
The Convention, from motives of self-preserva-
tion, had decided upon the destruction of its
correspondence with the disgraced Deputy that it
might the more easily deny complicity with his
operations in the provinces of Western France.
Much, therefore, of this side of Carrier’s corre-
spondence had to be sought elsewhere. Fortu-
nately the Revolutionists were fond of seeing
themselves in print, and their local papers were
enriched by them with many curious specimens
in the art of ‘“ self-expression.”” The task, there-
fore, was to discover the whereabouts of these ;
to arrange and classify such as should be cognate
to my purpose—a somewhat difficult and pro-
longed undertaking as, with the exception of
those produced by M. Aulard in his Recueil des
Actes du Comité de Salut Public, there was abso-
lutely no guide even to their existence.
Copies of letters that passed between Carrier
and the Generals of the Army of the West (over
which he had control) were sent to me by M. de
Lisle, Conservateur du Musée Thomas Dobrée
(Nantes). Others I have gathered from the
Parisian and provincial journals of the day, the
records of various popular societies (every town
had its revolutionary club), obscure histories of
remote country districts, etc. The tracing of
these absorbed time; and still more time was
FOREWORD xiii
spent in acquiring that knowledge of local data
which alone could furnish the right clue to their
meaning. I have now completed them, and
present them in their proper sequence. They
supply material which, in general, illuminates
much of the inner workings of the Revolutionary
Government ; and, in particular, they correct an
injustice that originated in the animosity of a
few personal and (for the time being) powerful
enemies. |
Between the years 1792-4 France was a caul-
dron of seething passions, a Babel of discordant
voices. With the masses of the people, agitation
was the synonym for statesmanship ; the throes
of revolution were mistaken for the movements
of regeneration. The 9th of Thermidor (July 27th,
1794) which witnessed the overthrow of Robes-
pierre’s dictatorship, liberated a public opinion
long held in leash, and which inclined to put
Mercy on the “‘ order of the day.”’ .The leaders of
the people, awakening to shame for their past
excesses and shrinking from the axe which they
had wielded in their season of passion, were
busily engaged in exonerating themselves and in
denouncing each other. The anxiety that the
Thermidorian Government experienced in regard
to its reputation may well be epitomized in a
political squib representing a conversation between
xiv FOREWORD
Barrére, one of the chiefs of the Convention, and
Quentin Fouquier-Tinville, the Public Prosecutor
at the Revolutionary Tribunal :
““My worthy friend, we breathe again,”
To Quentin Fouquier, Barrére said ;
“ The people, hunting ws in vain
Have flung our crimes on Carrier’s head :
Well, they are right (so must we say
When the good people have their day).”’
At the ‘‘ Call of the House,’”’ when Carrier’s fate
was sealed, the members of the Convention were
permitted to “‘ motive’”’ their votes, and in view
of their revolutionary renown these “‘ motives ”’
are singularly interesting. Thus, Representative
Couturier thinks that Carrier’s action towards the
brigands might be justified in view of the national
crisis, but that he was a too faithful agent of the
Committee which tried to seize the reins of power.
Thirion—the first to scale the Bastille on the day
of the assault—gives his vote “ with grief,’”’ in the
hope that the Convention would continue to show
itself severe against such men of the Revolution
as overstep their duties. The physician Duhem
‘motives’ Carrier’s accusation on the ground
that Tallien and Fréron, ‘‘ two vile pamphleteers ”’
whose abominable newspapers did more than
anything else to prejudice Paris against him, “ are
the heads of a faction founded on an infamous
FOREWORD XV
system of calumnies and crime.” A certain
Lésage-Senault was quite sure that the proofs
were insufficient and put no credence in the
charges of crimes imputed: but gives his “ oui”’
because the moral proofs seem to him convincing !
Representative Bourbotte only arrived at the
Convention at the close of the debate, but gave
his “‘ oui ’”’ because other members did so. Finally,
Milhaud, Carrier’s desk companion at school and
lifelong friend, gives his “oui” because “the
day when the founders of the Democratic Republic
accuse one of their colleagues is a day of triumph
for justice and its inseparable Liberty! In the
eyes of the universe the Convention is a family .
of the brothers of Brutus.”’
The psychology of the men of the Convention
is an interesting study upon which we cannot at
present enter. No judicial mind would give
credence to the recriminatory voices which con-
fused France with their clamour during this
period ; certainly no one trained to historical
research should attach authoritative value to its
partisan dicta, or its Songs of the Gutter. Yet
this is what has been done by some eminent
historians who have slavishly followed an accepted
dictum without examining its origin, verifying
its accuracy, or scrutinizing its motives. It is
safe to say that the Carrier of this Correspondence
xvi FOREWORD
—the young Deputy, enthusiastic for liberty and
fraternity—the laborious Proconsul whose almost
every moment was filled with the many details of
an onerous office—whose recorded counsels to
army officers and political clerks are moderate,
sober, and wise, touched with fine humour and
never failing in their genial camaraderie—who con-
tinually, but cheerfully, battled against ill-health
and overwork—was not the “mad dog” of
Taine’s eloquently worded libel, nor the “ horrible
monster ”’ of Mignet, Carlyle, and Thiers.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTORY 3 @ ; ;
VARIANT SPELLING OF CERTAIN NAMES .
FOREWORD 2 ; ; ; .
THE CORRESPONDENCE OF JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER
NOTES ON THE CORRESPONDENCE
ITINERARY OF CARRIER . : : 4
Cuier EvENTS IN THE VENDEAN TROUBLES
SOURCES OF THE CORRESPONDENCE ;
CARRIER, THE TIGER OF THE WEST ,
INDEX : . ;
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CORRESPONDENCE OF
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER
Mission of Carrier and Pocholle. National
Convention. July 12th, 1793.
(Entire from Aulard, Recueil des Actes du Comité de Salut
Public, t. 5, p. 240.)
The National Convention, after having heard
the report of the Committee of Public Safety,
decrees that Citizens Pocholle and Carrier,
members of the National Convention, shall visit
the departments of Seine-Inférieure, Manche,
Eure, Orne, Calvados and others neighbouring
upon them, for the purpose of replacing as People’s
Representatives Citizens Lecointre (of Versailles)
and Prieur (of Marne), and that they shall exercise
in them the same powers as those with which the
replaced deputies were invested by the decrees
of the 30th April and the 5th of July last (1).
2°» CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carrier to the Convention.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 5, p. 395.)
Les ANDELYs. 27th July, 1793.
(Received 2nd August.)
CITIZENS OUR COLLEAGUES,
A real dearth threatens the town of Rouen.
Its terrible effects are about to attack that pre-
cious class of citizens which has made so many
sacrifices for the Revolution and which upholds
it with so much courage—the indigent class.
Malevolence, ever active, exaggerated the evil
with the view of exasperating the patriots and
of making them find the remedy for their evils
only by allying themselves to the revolt of
Calvados.
Struck with the reality of the necessities, per-
ceiving the snare spread for the good citizens of
Rouen, the first care of my colleague Pocholle (2)
and myself was to warn the citizens of Rouen
against the attempts of the malevolent and the
better to unmask them, in conjunction with the
Constituted Authorities of Rouen, we took the
most efficacious steps to remove the cause of the
anxieties. We were at once invited to co-operate
in the urgent supplying of subsistences. We
yielded to this invitation. Pocholle took the
Havre road and I went into the Department of
Eure.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 3
I passed through Evreux. I saw there the
Republican Army burning with the purest civism.
I discussed with my colleagues Lindet, Du Roy,
and Bonnet, the best means of destroying the
kingdom of Buzot,! and of preventing the escape
of this traitor and the confederates who march
under his standard. I went to Les Andelys
accompanied by certain commissioners chosen
from among the Constituted Authorities of Rouen
on the affairs of the subsistence supply. On our
arrival we saw the fable of Tantalus realized. We
found the citizens of Les Andelys on the point of
experiencing the horrors of famine in the midst of
the greatest abundance. We went to the District
Council. The spectacle of a Directory animated
with the most pronounced republicanism, but
paralysed up to this moment by a Department
Administration in revolt against the Fatherland,
and a Municipality devoted to this rebellion, was
offered to our eyes. Hardly had we announced
the object of our mission to the Administrators
when they decided unanimously to accompany us
into the communes of their arrondissement to
procure for their brothers of Rouen as much food
as was within their power to send them.
In their presence, in the Popular Society, in the
midst of the populace of Les Andelys we then
exposed the pressing needs of the town of Rouen.
We had the satisfaction of hearing only one cry
1 One of the fugitive Girondists.
4 CORRESPONDENCE OF
from this people, good, gracious, and truly patri-
otic. ‘“‘ Let us succour our brothers of Rouen ;
let us share our food with them.” Sentiments of a
fraternity so sweet, a patriotism so humane,
deserve a place in the annals of our Revolution.
My heart has never known a keener joy than that
which it experienced among the citizens of Les
Andelys. I have never known people more
devoted to the cause of humanity, fraternity, and
Revolution.
We devoted ourselves entirely to this searching
for subsistence. The results are beyond our
expectation, without, however, attaining any
great quantity. We will procure food for our
brothers of Les Andelys and Rouen, but we hope
this resource may not in any way interfere with
your designs of benevolence and justice towards
the citizens of Rouen. Its needs are greater and
more urgent than we know how to paint them.
The district of Les Andelys was the first to give
us warning of the danger threatening the national
liberty in its Department and that of Calvados.
It was the first to fight valiantly for the defence
of the unity of the Republic. The Popular
Society of Les Andelys invites me to forward to
you a petition which contains its complaints.
I believe them very just. I join my earnest
entreaties to theirs in order that the most favour-
able reception may be given to their request.
I am at this moment setting out for the most
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 5
suitable place, albeit perilous, in which to arrest
the liberticide and secret projects contrived by
Buzot and his infamous adherents.
Greeting, fraternity, equality,
CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to the National Convention.
(Entire from the Moniteur, t. 17, p. 318.)
CAEN. 2nd August, 1793.
CITIZENS MY COLLEAGUES,
The throne of Buzot is at last overturned;
he has fled with those who conspired with him
the ruin of their country and the land upon which
they had kindled the torches of civil war. How-
ever, they are about to shake them in the
provinces which seem to favour their criminal
hopes. Everywhere we are endeavouring to
discover the flight of these traitors and we are
taking the most efficacious measures to prevent
their succeeding in this with impunity.
I entered Caen to-day at two o’clock in the
afternoon ; I have had the pleasure of seeing here
my colleagues Prieur and Romme,? liberated after
five days’ captivity.
_ The Republican Army, which we did not expect
until to-morrow morning, has returned, and made
1 In July Prieur (of Céte d’Or) and Romme were imprisoned
by the order of the Administrators of the Department of Calvados,
6 CORRESPONDENCE OF
its entry to-day between nine and ten in the
evening. Lindet, Du Roy, and Bonnet arrive
to-morrow.
We have already arrested some agents of the
conspiracy ; Fournez, General of the Division of
Coutances, who was implicated in it, has blown
out his brains. Pétion’s! wife, their son, and the
wife of another fugitive, have been arrested at
Honfleur. They are being sent to Paris. I gavean
order to that effect to my colleague Pocholle
whom I left at Rennes. Ca va, ca va, and ina
few days ¢a iva? still much better! The people,
recovered from their errors by the propagation of
true principles which must be the groundwork of
their liberty and happiness, will second with
pleasure, we dare to hope, our efforts to assure
these things to them.
Caen has unanimously accepted the Constitu-
tion, and the acceptance will be announced to-
morrow with several salvoes of artillery.
Greetings, fraternity,
CARRIER.
1 Pétion was another Girondist.
* A popular song.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 4
Decree relative to the Mission of Carner and
Pocholle.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 5, p. 547.)
NATIONAL CONVENTION.
Sitting of August 14th, 1793.
The National Convention, after having heard
the report of the Committee of Public Safety,
authorises Citizens Carrier and Pocholle, People’s
Representatives at the Army of the Coasts of
Cherbourg, to visit the Departments of Finistére,
Ille-et-Vilaine, Cdtes-du-Nord, Morbihan, and
Loire-Inférieure, to continue their mission in them,
and to take every measure of interior and exterior
defence which they may consider necessary.
Letter from Carner to Bourchotte, Minister of War.
(Entire from La Revue Réirospective, 2nd Serie, t. 5, p. 130.)
SAINT-MALO. 24th August, 1793.
Year 2 of the French Republic.
CITIZEN MINISTER,
After having visited different parts of
Cétes-du-Nord, in my hot pursuit of the infamous
fugitives expelled from the Convention, I arrived
a few days ago at Saint-Malo. There I passed in
review the 7th Battalion of the Somme and the
and Battalion of the 44th Regiment, The first-
8 CORRESPONDENCE OF
named is one of the finest battalions in the
Républic; the best principles and the most
pronounced patriotism animate both officers and
soldiers. All are true sans-culottes, men who
manifest the firmest courage. I was glad to see
among them that discipline which this courage
makes possible.
As a body the 44th Regiment is good: it
appears to me eager to display its courage. A few
soldiers had hazarded incivic proposals in moments
of drunkenness ; they were promptly punished.
The rest have assisted with their officers at the
sittings of the Popular Society of Saint-Malo.
I myself have spoken in it. I have thoroughly
stirred up men’s minds. We now hear no cries
but those of the most ardent patriotism. ‘‘ Vive
la République, Vive la Montagne, Vivent les Sans-
culottes!’’ These are the only acclamations which
echo from the walls of Saint-Malo. Each evening,
‘after the sitting of the Popular Society, citizens of
both sexes, officers and soldiers, nearly all the
population of Saint-Malo accompany me home,
chanting patriotic hymns; a little while, and I
flatter myself, that after having arrested or caused
the flight from these countries of the conspirators
expelled from the Convention who are concealed
in them, I shall have thoroughly sans-culottized
or Jacobinized those citizens whom these per-
fidious persons, together with the journalists
subsidized by the aristocracy, have led into error,
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 9
The two battalions which I have already
mentioned require most urgently the objects in
the lists I am sending you; brave minister, I
intreat you to give the earliest possible orders for
their dispatch. I am sending you a complaint no
less urgent ; it is to invite the Executive Council
to recall its Commissioners disseminated through
the Departments of the Republic ; they are doing
incalculable harm. They counteract our opera-
tions, profess principles truly anarchic, set them-
selves up as little gods and commit all manner of
ineptitudes ; in a word, they are only good for
secret operations. Every good citizen, every
Popular Society, loudly inveighs against them.
Pass on at once these reflections of mine to the
Executive Council and engage it to recall its
Commissioners immediately. The necessity for
this recall is of the utmost urgency.
Greeting, fraternity,
CARRIER.
Letter from the People’s Montagnard Club of
St. Malo to Carrier.
(Synopsis from Arch. Nat. Rev. Trib., Paris, MSS.)
Expresses gratitude to Carrier, Tréhouart, and
Chaumont, for his [sic] action in saving them from
destruction and shows their entire confidence
in him,
Io CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carrier to Prieur (of Cétes d’Or).
SAINT-MALO. 28th August, 1793.'
(Entire extract from Lallié (J.-B. Carrier), p. 27.
Lallié’s Analysis.)
The scoundrels expelled from the Convention
have succeeded in perverting public opinion where-
ever they have dragged their sacreligious existence.
I can spend no more time looking for them. This
search is making me forget all my Latin,? and I
am not even sure that they may not have gone to
England. However, there are absolutely no
grounds for this supposition, so [ am much
inclined to think they are concealing themselves
in former Brittany. I will disinter them,?
miscreants as they are, and be sure that if I
succeed, I will arrest them or perish.
Public spirit is very badly directed in Remes.
(Follows an abridged plan for weeding out the
Constituted Authorities.) (He speaks of the
complaints of a certain Penée, put under arrest.)
Revolts, continually breaking out in all sides,
necessitates the presence of several Commissioners
from the Convention.
1 Detail added from the Catalogue of the Dugast-Matifeux
Collection, Nantes. (Brit. Mus., p. 153.)
2 Carrier was constantly quoting the Classics.
’ The fugitive Deputies were supposed, and rightly, to have
taken refuge in the limestone caves of these districts,
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER II
Letter of Carner to the Representatives of the
People attached to the Army of the Coasts of
La Rochelle.
(Entire from La Revue Rétrospective, 2nd Serie, t. 4, p. 431.)
RENNES. 6th September, 1793.
CITIZENS MY COLLEAGUES,
General Beysser! was charged by the
Committee of Public Safety to arrest the fugitive
deputies who are seeking to establish a second
Vendée in the Departments of former Brittany ;
I am entrusted with the same mission; I have
been occupied with this matter for some time and
it does not appear to me that General Beysser has
made the least attempt to carry out his orders.
And yet he received for this mission the sum of
one hundred thousand livres! On his last visit to
- Rennes he spent all his time with the declared
partisans of the fugitive ex-deputies and did not
take the slightest trouble to discover these
traitors. Try, my dear Colleagues, to get from
him an account of the way in which he has
fulfilled the purpose of his mission, and of the use
to which he has put the funds entrusted to him
1 General Beysser had taken a leading part in “‘ Federalism ”’
in Nantes, for which he later expressed repentance. Subsequently
he fell back into his “error’’; was arrested by order of the
Committee of Public Safety, 19th September, 1793, and guillotined
in Paris, 13th April, 1794.
12 CORRESPONDENCE OF
and which he ought to have left with the pay-
master-general of the Department of Ille-et-
Vilaine, according to a letter that I received from
the Minister of Justice, dated 31st August.
I frankly acknowledge to you that I have no
confidence whatever in Beysser for the execution of
the measures which have been confided to him.
Take his mission from him, that is indispensable,
and confide it immediately to a brave, well-
pronounced sans-culotte, who will effectively
assist me in the search for and the arrest of the
traitors. I am quite confident I know the place
where they are concealing their sacrilegious exist-
ence; but in the present state of disorder and
disorganization in Rennes, and alone as I am in
the midst of this chaos, I cannot leave this town
for a single moment, and the armed force I have
summoned to it is necessary to restrain those who
are disposed to work us evil. I must reorganize
the Constituted Authorities and strike great blows
on the guilty—I must extend my supervision to
the country districts round, where small agitations
make us fear counter-revolutionary explosions
from three different points.
My counsels to you are these: an immediate
examination of Beysser’s conduct and of the funds
he has received ; an immediate delegation of his
powers into surer hands ; an immediate response ;
and in any case the funds sent to Beysser should
be paid into the bank of the payer-general of
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 13
Nantes, so that they may be held at the disposal
of the payer-general of Rennes, in order that he
may deliver them to the citizens chosen to re-
place Beysser in his secret mission. I am only
acquainted with three persons who may be relied
upon: General Tribout, at present in Brest ; the
Commandant of the 7th Battalion of the Somme,
at this moment in Rennes; and Le Tellier, Com-
mandant of the 2nd Battalion of the National
Guards of Rennes.
Citizen Héraut, Commissioner of the Executive
Power, who is returning to you, will give you more
ample information.
CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 6, p. 309.)
RENNES. 6th September, 1793.
CITIZEN COLLEAGUES,
Invested with the order to arrest the
fugitive ex-deputies and to establish harmony in
the Department of former Brittany, I went to
Saint-Malo, there to obtain all the necessary
information on the hiding-place of the traitors and
to sound the public temper. I soon came upon
proofs of the winding, vagabond march of these
arrant scoundrels, but I could only get extremely
vague notions of the places in which they were in
concealment.
14 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Whilst I waited for more certain information, I
attempted to assure the triumph of patriotism in
Saint-Malo and succeeded perfectly. The People’s
Club is at revolutionary height. The Constituted
Authorities have only been misled in the matter
of the Departmental coalition. I have found no
leader, and the patriots have not mentioned any
with the exception of General Beaudré, at present
at Bayeux, of whom we must make sure. They
make no complaint of their Administrative
Bodies, so that I thought it politic not to renew
them by virtue of my powers. But, nevertheless,
since administration must not slip into such hands
as may by mistake, evil influence, or ill-will, have
dipped into Departmental conspiracy,’ I will
renew them as soon as the decree ordering their
removal shall have reached me. In this way the
change will excite no comment in those places
where the only reproach one can make is that of
adhering to the Departmental force. .
Before leaving Saint-Malo I had all suspected
persons disarmed;? I had a certain Hervé
arrested and brought to the Revolutionary
Tribunal: a few days later I learnt that he had
escaped from the police station at Dol. The two
policemen in charge of him are now undergoing
1 This conspiracy consisted in the Departments declaring
that they would arm themselves and go to the rescue of the
Girondist deputies in Paris.
2 For the appointment of a Revolutionary Committee at
Saint-Malo see page 241 (3).
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 15
imprisonment at Rennes; I shall give orders for
their trial.
At Saint-Malo I gave explicit orders for the
arrest and prevention of the emigration of fugitive
deputies, should they appear in these districts at
any time; I have given the same orders to
Tribout, General-in-Chief of the Brigade at Brest,
and I have the greatest confidence in this brave
sans-culotte, who wished to arrest them and would
have done so when they passed through Saint-
Malo had not General Beaudré so stoutly opposed
the plan. I have been to Saint-Servan, near
Saint-Malo, and found there hot patriotism and
pure Jacobin feeling. There was only the trouble
of disarming three or four aristocrats shut up in
their own houses.
But it is quite otherwise at Rennes. When I
came here I found everything in the disorder of
counter-revolution, but a pronounced civism in
the People’s Club, which, however, had been
dissolved by force, and in sans-culottism. A
company of gunners in open counter-revolution
threatened and intimidated good citizens. My
presence and firmness astonished them, but to
accelerate and facilitate the execution of my
orders I called to my aid nine companies of brave
soldiers of the Fatherland in garrison at S. Malo.
They have just arrived at Rennes, and to-day I
am going to take all the measures that public
safety demands. They are so numerous that
16 CORRESPONDENCE OF
in spite of my goodwill it is impossible to
be as speedy as I should like to be and as is
desirable.
I can hardly describe to you the deplorable
condition of former Brittany. Twelve Com-
missioners! from the Convention would have the
greatest difficulty, so small is the force at our
disposal, in establishing harmony. In almost
every town practically all the Constituted Author-
ities are in counter-revolution ; <almost all the
country municipalities are with their communes
downright fanatics; everywhere counter-revo-
lutionary manifestations are on the point of
declaring themselves; assemblies in the woods
near Bréal and Plélan threaten liberty. A
progress of émigrés and refractory priests excites
well-founded fear at Ploiier. We suspect a retreat
of fugitive ex-deputies in the neighbourhood of
Quimper; but being alone in Rennes, I cannot
leave it in its present state of disorder. I have no
hope of assistance and no confidence in Beysser,
to whom, by some fatality, you have confided the
important and secret work of securing the traitors
expelled from the Convention. I am sending you
a copy of the letter I thought it my duty to send
to my colleagues at the Army of the Coasts of
La Rochelle about General Beysser. You will see
1 A facetious allusion to the Commission of the Twelve
appointed by the Girondists to examine their own political
misdoings.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER = 17
whether his conduct justifies my fears and
suspicions. :
Prieur (of Céte d’Or) and Du Roy must have
sent two of my letters to you; weigh well the
reflections you will find in them.
I don’t know at all the whereabouts of my
colleague Pocholle ; of this I can assure you that
< the condition of ci-devant Brittany is a thousand
times more distressing than you could imagine,
especially if you keep in mind the second Vendée
breaking out near Vitré, where an armed force is
constantly engaged, though it should be one more
numerous and better commanded. »
In a word, you know my character, unshaken
by the storms of Revolution, does not make me
exaggerate the danger incurred by the State; but
in its name and for its safety, speedily send me a
few firm men of the Mountain? who are not from
this district,2 and who will second us in the
important measures that must be taken quickly
and boldly for the safety of these lands.
I am just about to dismiss the leaders of the
Rennes’ cannoneers, and arrest the pronounced
counter-revolutionists. I shall send away the
latest recruits, dissolve the other contingents, and
1 The dominant part of the Convention after the fall of the
Gironde. Later, the Marsh and the Plain will rise into pro-
minence.
2 We shall find that the Representative Tréhouard ‘‘ from
this district ’’ was considerably hampered in his judgment by
his partiality for old friends.
Cc
et
18 CORRESPONDENCE OF |
arrest those declared guilty of the counter-
revolutionary disorders committed by _ this
company. Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
P.S.—A speedy dispatch to Rennes of several
copies of the decree on the renewal of Adminis-
trative Bodies, and of the new levée of national
forces.
Letter of Carrier to Gohier, Minister of Justice.
(Entire from La Revue Rétrospective, 2nd Serie, t. 4, p. 432.)
RENNES. 6th September, 1793.
Year 2 of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
Your letter, my dear Gohier, was handed
over to me yesterday evening by Citizens Héraut
and Guermur.' The presence of these two
patriots was very necessary to me ;« with their
assistance I shall the more speedily put into
execution the measures which public safety de-
mands in your country, where everything is
disorganized and in counter-revolution, with the
exception of the sans-culotterie, which here, as
everywhere else, is animated with the best
principles. »
If anything in your letter has astonished me,
it is the ease with which General Beysser has
1 See Appendix (4) for an interesting account of this interview.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 19
deceived your confidence and that of the Com-
mittee of Public Safety. You have entrusted to
him a hundred thousand livres to be placed with
the paymaster-general of the Department of [lle-
et-Vilaine; he has done nothing of the sort,
He has kept them in his own possession, although
they ought to be employed in the search for and
arrest of the fugitive deputies. He has not taken
the smallest steps in this matter; on the con-
trary, on his last visit to Rennes, he spent all his
time with the warm friends of the traitors banished
from the Convention.
Having no confidence whatever in him, I sent
Citizen Héraut to my colleagues at Nantes with
a letter from me, in which I suggested that they
should get Beysser to give an account of the
measures he is thinking of taking for the execu-
tion of the secret mission which has been confided
to him, and of the funds he has received for this
object ; to induce him to pay them into the
public bank so that they may be at the disposal
of whomsoever my colleagues appoint to replace
Beysser. I wrote by the same courier to the
Committee of Public Safety; I gave it all the
information which my mission had enabled me
to procure as well as that concerning the present
state of your country. Read my letter.
By what intrigue has Maublanc, Mayor of
Ceojon, surprised out of the Minister of War a
place of Justice of the Peace at our Armies? By
20 CORRESPONDENCE OF
what means has Louazal, surgeon at Servan,
succeeded in obtaining a post at the Army of the
Ardennes? I cannot prevent myself from dis-
missing these two counter-revolutionists.
Investigate and give a speedy decision on the
affair of the former curé of Ercé. Be as active in
your decision on that of the woman Villebougue.
CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public
Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 6, p. 363.)
RENNES. 8th September, 1793.
CITIZEN COLLEAGUES,
I have only time to urge you to take the
most suitable steps for the immediate deportation
of Le Coz, Bishop of Ille-et-Vilaine, federalist,
counter-revolutionist, and fanatic to the last
degree. This wretch is fanning the flame of
fanaticism which is causing so many evils and
producing so many counter-revolutionary explo-
sions. I warn you that if you do not take these
steps yourselves, or if you do not have the deporta-
tion at once confirmed by the Convention, I shall
easily find means myself to effect it; you will
do well to give this matter your most earnest
consideration, but when the public safety demands
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 21
any action from me, custom matters nothing ;
the people’s safety is my highest law.
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
P.S.—Speak to our colleague Duval‘ on this
subject.
Answer from the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 6, p. 364.)
CITIZEN COLLEAGUE,
The powers that the Convention has given
you are sufficient to authorize all the measures
you consider necessary for the public safety. Your
severity towards a disturbing bishop will be at
once a just punishment and a useful example.
Letter of Carrier to Citizen Derieu, Envoy of the
Primary Assemblies, and Member of the Com-
mittee of Public Safety of Saint-Brieuc.
(Entire from La Revue Rétrospective, 2nd Serie, t. 4, p. 440.)
RENNES. gth September, 1793 (?).
Great operations in connection with numerous
reforms will keep me in Rennes for several days.
I hope soon to visit Saint-Brieuc, where my
presence is urgently desired and where I am
exceedingly anxious to be among the numerous
+ Duval was the Deputy to the Convention from the Depart-
ment of Ille-et-Vilaine,
22 CORRESPONDENCE OF
brave sans-culottes who, thanks to their energy
and co-operation, are enjoying a complete triumph
at the present moment.
I was very pleased with the highly satisfactory
arrangements that have been made by Citizen
Hamelin, whom I saw daily and always with
pleasure when he was at Rennes. The brave
defenders of our country of the regiment formerly
Forest, and one of your cannoneers, confirmed
this news. All those excellent patriots assure me
that you have made the most effective prepara-
tions to facilitate my operations in your town.
Continue, worthy Republicans, to watch and to
work, and to mark out all counter-revolutionists,
moderates, royalists, feuillants, and conspirators
both for their cure and the national vengeance.
The triumph of the sans-culotterie must not be
incomplete; all places must be filled by brave
sans-culoties ; and every one not wishing to be
sans-culottized must be rigorously excluded from
them and reduced by the firmest measures to
powerlessness to injure.
To prepare for the happy success of this I am
sending you the most extended powers with an
order for the arrest of Ruperon and Ducondic.
Kindly communicate all this to your brothers of
the Committee of Public Safety of which you are
a member, and concert with them so that the
promptest execution may be given to the two
mandates of arrest and the placing of such persons
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 23
as these orders authorize, and that the most
vigorous and immediate measures may lead effec-
tively to the disarmament and arrests which I
have authorized pending my arrival to put the
finishing touch to the reforms.
Greeting and eternal fraternity to all the
patriots,
CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to Citizen Besné, Public Prosecutor
at the Criminal Tribunal of the Department of
Cotes-du-Nord.
(Entire from La Revue Réirospective, 2nd Series, t. 4, p. 439.)
RENNES. oth September, 17093.
Year 2 of the French Republic.
CITIZEN,
If you have not already done so, send to
Paris at once, and by the surest way, the nephew
of Pitt whom you have caused to be arrested.
I am forwarding to you an order which I have
just received from the Minister of Justice for the
arrest of the Englishman Greenville.’ He is living
near Dinant, at his country house at La Com-
minais. You will be careful to place seals upon
his papers and take fresh steps to discover the
most recent correspondence of Pitt’s nephew, as
1 This “ Englishman ” is variously spelt Greenville, Grenville,
and Granville. For further particulars upon him see note (3),
p. 30.
24 CORRESPONDENCE OF
those of his papers which have been recently
seized are of very ancient date. In order to pro-
vide the more surely for the execution of these
measures, I have decided to delegate them to the
care of Citizens Vaucel and Melet. One of them
will concert with you, while the other will exercise
surveillance and collect information at Dinant.
Devote, Citizen, your whole zeal and energy
to the common weal in the great crisis in which
the Republic finds itself ; the treasons which sur-
round you on all sides, the love you bear your
country, the glory of having contributed to save
its independence, all will impose upon you a
religious duty. Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 6, p. 437.)
RENNES. 11th September, 1793.
(Received 13th September.)
CITIZENS MY COLLEAGUES,
The Minister of Justice will explain to you
the measures I have taken to arrest the English-
man Grenville and to send Pitt’s nephew to Paris.
I shall treat similarly all conspirators who are
detained at Rennes. I have ordered a list of
them to be brought tome. Already some of them
are en route.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 25
Public spirit here is at revolutionary height.
Last Sunday I made the garrison assemble at the
Champ de Mars. I harangued the different bodies
of the troops. I had only the most flattering
things to say to them all, with the exception of
the company of the gunners of Rennes. With the
greatest publicity and all possible energy I
pointed out to them the counter-revolutionary
actions which have marked every step of their
conduct since the last days of May. I addressed
to them the most cutting reproaches ; I announced
to them that it was my intention to dissolve them
with ignominy, had it not been for the order of
General Canclaux, requesting them to go to him.
I said they were to obey these orders and as, by a
culpable complaisance, the municipality had
issued passports to several of those who had
already, at my approach, scattered into the towns
and surrounding villages, I declared to them in
the presence of the whole garrison and an immense
multitude, that I should hold the relations of the
fugitives responsible for their return.
This solemn declaration produced the effect
that I had expected; already a flood of letters
has been written urging the fugitives to join the
contingent of the last recruiting and those who
have returned to Canclaux. The municipality
has given me its word to rally round me or
Canclaux before long.
Two of these gunners have been arrested at
26 CORRESPONDENCE OF
S. Malo and are going to be sent tome. You may
count on my winning them all over. I am now
taking the necessary steps to have them sent to
Canclaux who, in accordance with the order he
has received from the Minister of War on this
matter, will send them to the Army of the North :
that is their true destination ; they all possess
courage and know how to drill. I am confident
that away from perfidious administrators and
their counter-revolutionary municipalities, and
when among our brave gunners, they will certainly
efface from their minds all ideas of federalism and
will valiantly defend their country.
I have dismissed their commander from his post,
and have had him arrested ; he has escaped, but the
municipality which gave him a passport will answer
to me for this and I shall well know how to force
it to indicate to me the place of its concealment.
I have already made some dismissals and some
very good replacements. I would have had the
générale beaten, but the replacements are difficult,
the workmen here being in full counter-revolution.
The sans-culotterie is at revolutionary pitch.
Sunday’s festival was very brilliant. On return-
ing to the Champ de Mars we planted the tree of
liberty amid acclamations of joy from a numerous
people who passed the rest of the day and all the
night in dancing. Shouts of the most patriotic
mirth echoed continually from the walls of
Rennes.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 29
The people await with impatience the dismissal
and punishment of traitors. This waiting will not
be long. I am expected in every town and
surrounding commune, but I can quit Rennes only
when I have entirely stifled all hopes of the
resurrection of federalism and counter-revolution.
I have already prepared the measures necessary
for public safety in several communes, but,
nevertheless, the condition of Brittany is very
disquieting. A large part of Brittany is in the
same disposition as Toulon ;? I have sent word to
my colleagues Tréhouard and Bréard at Saint-
Malo. Nor is Lorient too well disposed, and the
scoundrels expelled from the Convention, accord-
ing to my conjectures, are not very far from
that city.
However, you may rely on my firm resolution
to crush all conspirators: I shall only leave
Brittany when I have delivered them up to the
national vengeance, or when this evil is abolished
by a flight that I cannot prevent.
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
P.S.—Carry out the request of my preceding
letter.
1 It will be remembered that Toulon had given itself up to
the English. The Siege was still in progress.
28 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Answer to the above letter from the Committee of
Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 6, p. 430.)
Paris. (Undated.)
CITIZEN COLLEAGUE,
The perfidies of Toulon show the need for
a special supervision over all our maritime towns.
By sending doubtful men away from their places,
by pursuing traitors, by strengthening the good
spirit of the people, it may be hoped that the
malintentioned will be reduced to powerlessness.
We count upon you to take measures proportional
_ to the circumstances. Your firmness and your
prudence will dictate to you everything that can
conduce to the safety of the Republic.
Letter of Carrier to Citizen Gohier, Minister of
Justice.
(Entire from La Revue Rétrospective, 2nd Serie, t. 4, p. 443.)
RENNES. 11th September, 1793.
Year 2 of the French Republic.
I have received, my dear Gohier, the four
warrants of arrest issued by the Committee of
Public Safety and your two commissioners against
the Englishman Grenville. I have sent two of
them to the Public Prosecutor attached to the
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 20
Criminal Tribunal of the Department of Cétes-du-
Nord. I have handed over the two others to a
good patriot of Rennes and to Citizen Vaucel,
Commissioner of the Executive Power, who have
this moment set out to put the orders of the
Committee of Public Safety into execution. I have
no doubts as to their zeal, or that they will take
the most effective steps for the arrest of Grenville ;
I have charged them to supervise the translation of
Pitt’s nephew; I have expressly recommended
him to the Public Prosecutor Besné; I will send
you the result of this expedition as soon as I
receive it.
Public spirit at Rennes is at present at revolu-
tionary height. On Sunday last, with the greatest
pomp, we planted the tree of liberty on the place
where formerly stood the statue of Louis XIV.
I have begun the reforms which the maintenance
of the national liberty demands ; I will continue ,
this beneficent expurgation until every appoint-
ment is filled by a true and firm patriot. I shall
be inexorable ; nothing shall shake my firmness ;
my measures will receive, I hope, the universal
approbation of all good patriots.
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
30 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carrier to Bourchotie, Minister of War.
(Entire from La Revue Rétrospective, 2nd Serie, t. 4, p. 441.)
RENNES. 11th September, 1793.
Year 2 of the French Republic.
Among the numerous reforms I am obliged to
make at Rennes, and which are demanded by the
public safety, I have dismissed a certain Richelot
from his appointment of Adjutant-General and of
Adjunct to the Adjutant-Generals of the Armies
of the Coast of Brest. I am delighted that at the
moment he received my dismissal yours also
reached him. It is thus that brave sans-culottes
should arrive at a happy concord of opinions and
results. |
I have promised Citizen Larcher, an excellent
patriot, the place of Adjutant-General of the
National Guard of Rennes. If you have not
disposed of that of Adjunct, which Richelot
formerly held, I suggest that you confer it on
Larcher who will do very well in it.
On dismissing the Chief of Legion of the
district of Rennes, I replaced him by Citizen Tellier,
a citizen highly recommendable by his very pro-
nounced civism and military talents. Like
Larcher, he has firmly opposed counter-revolu-
tionary movements and the Departmental
coalition. Try to recompense the zeal of this
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 31
firm patriot by giving him the first place worthy
of him which is vacant in the Armies of the Coast
of Brest or of La Rochelle.
Cast your eyes over the petition which has been
sent me'by the shoemakers of Rennes, and over a
resolution of the Administration of Ille-et-Vilaine
which I am sending you. The complaint appears
to mea just one ; the complainants are very good
patriots and have constantly given us good
_ supplies of shoes. They are sold here at about
eighteen livres the pair. Let the shoemakers
have an indemnity or raise the price of their
contract ; it is only just ; I speak to you with full
knowledge of the whole affair.
In one of the skirmishes in which the traitor
Custine was engaged at the time of Dumouriez’
treason, an affair which I only partially under-
stand, a detachment of the avant-guard of the
16th Regiment, formerly Orléans, was taken
prisoner by the Prussians; the prisoners are at
present at Wesel. I am charged with this matter,
and I ask you to negotiate the cartel of exchange
as speedily as possible.
Greeting, fraternity,
CARRIER.
32 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carrier to Citizen Lucas, Chief of the
1st Battalion of the Seine-Inférieure.
(Entire from La Revue Rétrospective, 2nd Serie, t. 4, p. 447.)
RENNES. 12th Sebtember, 1793.
Year 2 of the French Republic.
_ CITIZEN,
Your well-known civism has determined us
to entreat you with the direction-in-chief of the
armed force we have considered it expedient to
the public safety to send to Ploiiers. For some
days past this place has excited our uneasiness
and we cannot doubt but that there is formed in
it a party dangerous to liberty and the public
tranquility ; we have therefore organized a force
of 600 men to disperse this party and secure
those whose intentions towards us are evil.
You will be careful to confer with the curé of
Ploiiers and those citizens whose names he gives
you regarding the speediest and most effective
means of success; we rely absolutely on your
patriotism and facility of attending to the informa-
tion the patriots give you. We hope that none of
the ill-disposed will escape your search.
CARRIER,
The Representative of the French People
in the Department of Ille-et-Vilaine,
and others.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 33
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety
of Saint-Malo.*
(Entire from La Revue Rétrospective, and Serie, t. 4, p. 447.)
RENNES. 12th September, 1793.
Year 2 of the French Republic.
BROTHERS AND FRIENDS,
The active surveillance you are exercising
with so much zeal completely justifies the confi-
dence I had placed in you. Continue this
beneficent work and you will have well-merited
of your country.
You have done well to place under arrest the
two cannoneers of Rennes and the citizen who
came to request their liberation ; I believe him as
guilty as the cannoneers. Take the proper steps
to send all three of them to me. I think that an
order of route, from which there may be no
divergence, from Saint-Malo to Rennes, emanating
from you when you are quite sure they have no
other passport, will be sufficient for this, because
I want you to send them directly to me. You will
be careful to let me have all their papers and pass-
ports so that they will be unable to make an
improper use of them. They shall have them
back again as soon as they reach Rennes.
1 Later the Convention did away with these local Committees
of Public Safety, declaring that there was but one Committee
that should hold this title: The Committee of Public Safety of
the National Convention.
D
34 CORRESPONDENCE OF
The powers I have given you include, without
opposition, the public functionaries who have
given proofs of incivism and counter-revolution.
You can therefore use these powers against them.
But if you feel the slightest doubt on this subject,
I give you express authority by my present letter.
Whoever is suspect or counter-revolutionary, or
whoever still holds principles of federalism, comes
under the powers I have delegated to you.
I have confided to Mousset, my fellow-country-
man,’ the order for the armed force to march on
Ploiiers.
Greeting, fraternity, friendship,
CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 6, p. 496.)
RENNES. 15th September, 1793.
(Received 18th September.)
CITIZEN COLLEAGUES,
Brittany was the first to rise for the
Revolution ; it will be the first to move for a
counter-revolution if it has any opportunity. > It
is inconceivable, it is even treason against national
liberty, that no one of my colleagues, that no
citizen should have given the National Con-
vention an account of the political situation of
1 Another ‘‘ fellow-countryman ’’ and distant relation becomes
one of Carrier’s secretaries.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 35
former Brittany. It is high time it should be
known that there are only a few communes going
with the Revolution ; thatGt is only among the
sans-culotierte of the towns that good principles
are to be found; everywhere else there is open
counter-revolution»
The town which above all others requires your
attention and care is Nantes. You probably
_know, or at least my colleagues there ought to
have informed you, that the town is filled with
foreigners ; that<the merchants and gentlemen
who practically compose the whole town are
recognized counter-revolutionists and in com-
munication with the rebels of the Vendée, whose
rebellions they encourage and support} that the
Nantais were the first to set the dire example of an
advance to the ci-devant Comte d’Artois. I don’t
know what motives for circumspection there can
be in the case of a town that might well become a
second Lyons. “From Nantes to Rennes there is a
cordon of counter-revolution.’
Everywhere, I repeat, everywhere the Consti-
tuted Authorities are in open counter-revolution ;
everywhere there is an open traffic in separate
markets in money and assignats*—this counter-
1 Lyons had raised the standard of federalism as far back as
May 29th. The town capitulated to the Republicans on October
ay The Convention had decreed that paper money, or assignats,
was to replace coin. The mistrustful merchants, not without
reason, preferred the latter and took to selling the paper money
36 CORRESPONDENCE OF
revolutionary action has only disappeared in the
Department of Ille-et-Vilaine. Nowhere have
the measures of the 4th of May?’ relative to
provisions been taken.
I can assure you that in Finistére and Morbihan,
whither I intend to go as soon as possible, the
counter-revolution is as strong as at Coblentz.”»
Things had come to such a pass in Rennes that I
had to spend eight days choosing patriots to
fulfil administrative functions. I am going to
work this change to-morrow; there are other
secondary ones to follow, for*I will not leave a
single aristocrat in office.y
After that I will go where liberty seems most
threatened by dangers. Meanwhile, I have cleared
the prisons in Rennes of all counter-revolutionists
imprisoned in them ; a great number had escaped,
eight since I came here. I sent sixteen to the
Revolutionary Tribunal. The Englishman Gren-
ville has been arrested ; important papers were
found upon him; he will soon arrive in Paris.
Then, again, I have had Codrington® arrested, and
at a discount for cash. This naturally brought discredit upon
the assignats, and two prices for merchandize came to be exacted
according as the goods were paid for in one or the other medium
of change. ,
1 Concerning collection of provisions from “‘ revolted ’’ districts
and storage thereof. 2 The head-quarters of the émigrés.
3 Journal dela Montagne, No. 112, p. 790. Extract from a letter
from Dinan, Department of Cétes-du-Nord. 12th September,1793;
““ ARREST OF FOREIGNERS.
‘* Benjamin Pitt, Second-Lieutenant of the vessels of the English
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 37
have just sent the order for his removal to Rennes
and thence to Paris. |
Guermeur and Vauchal are looking out for the
conspirators expelled from the Convention
(fugitive Girondists). I have sent 600 men to
Ploiier, not far from S. Malo, to arrest a band of
counter-revolutionists and foreigners gathering
there. I have sent 100 to Herbignal to form
with the National Guard of the neighbourhood a
nucleus of public force to prevent the escape and
dispersal of brigands escaping from the Vendée.
I have already sent 100 men to Rédon to repress
the counter-revolutionists and to increase the
forces near Vitré. Each moment I await the
arrival of a detachment of cavalry bringing me a
conspirator from Rennes and certain refractory
priests.*
In spite of all my efforts the forces at my
command are insufficient. I shall, however, take
the wise precaution of disarming all suspects, and
Indies’ Company, retired to Cominais, near Dinan, has been
arrested at St. Servan, the 31st August, 1793.
“‘ Richard Grenville, relative of the famous Lord Grenville,
Lieutenant-Colonel of the 9th Regiment of the Infantry of the
King of England, retired to Cominais, which he left to go aboard
a cartel-ship, the 11th of this month, has been arrested at St.
Servan ; he is being taken to Paris, to the Committee of Public
Safety.
‘The Sieur Codrington, ex-mempber of the English race-course,
a”rich and jesting man, has been arrested seriously, the 11th of
this month and taken to the Tour de Esolidor, whence he will be
Fe OD
sent, to, Paris.
+ Priests'refusing to take the oath to the Constitution,
38 CORRESPONDENCE OF
I shall give their arms to the sans-culotteric. I very
much doubt if it is a sufficient measure to destroy
all these counter-revolutionists. If it were
possible to send an armed force to these regions
its purpose had never been more emphatic and
essential.“ Nearly all the country districts are in
an indescribable state of fanaticism. Priests
disguised as peasants are swarming everywhere?
I am going to make a cargo of them at once and
have them shipped to S. Malo, where public spirit
is at revolutionary height. The same measures
ought to be taken all over the country if any civic
harmony is to be created in these districts ; but
one cannot take salutary measures without a
considerable force; I can quite well do this in
Rennes, but shall I have the same opportunity in
other places ?
Lorient gives me great ie ; it is in the
same mood as Brest, but I cannot be everywhere
at once and it is essential that wherever I am I
should organize things in such a way as to make
it needless to have to return in order to ensure the
triumph of liberty and the patriots.
Hitherto Rennes has been the example in
politics to all the other towns of former Brittany ;
in the city, therefore, as elsewhere, the great work
of civic organization and punishment of traitors —
must be proceeded with. Therefore the federalists
in the neighbourhood begin to tremble, to air their
grievances, and to run in crowds to the People’s
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 30
Clubs. But the patriots, in inferior numbers,
unwilling to receive them again, call for me from
every quarter. I shall go to them as soon as
possible, and you may be quite sure I shall spare
neither care, nor vigilance, nor labour to bring the
country of Brittany to a happier condition, laid
waste as it is at this moment by fanatics, foreigners,
and every class of counter-revolutionist.
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
P.S.—Take particular care with regard to
Baco,' sometime Mayor of Nantes. He is one
of the greatest counter-revolutionists of the past
or present.
Answer to the above letter from the Committee of
Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 6, p. 497.)
CITIZEN COLLEAGUE,
The affecting picture you paint of ci-devant
Brittany, in your letter of the 15th of this month,
is too depressing for the Committee not to weigh
very seriously the details you have sent. Continue
ceaselessly to watch the malintentioned, especially
those whited sepulchres, bloody spawn of fanatic
1 Baco had taken part in the protest of Nantes against the
“Days ” of 31st May, 2nd, 3rd June. Sent to Paris as a federalist,
he was put on trial after Thermidor, and consequently obtained
his liberty.
40 CORRESPONDENCE OF
priests; purge the gangrened bodies! without
delay ; let the sword of the law fall on every guilty
soul, and let nothing that might become harmful
escape the severe eye of vigilant supervision. The
Committee relies on your zeal’; may it meet with
no opposition! and on your devotion to the
Fatherland.
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Surveillance
or of Public Safety established at Saint-Brieuc.
(Entire from La Revue Réirospective, 2nd Serie, t. 4, p. 453.)
RENNES. 16th September, 1793.
Year 2 of the French Republic.
CITIZENS, |
It was my intention to confer with the
Committee established by the sections of Saint-
Brieuc and in reality to give it the powers I have
given to Citizen Derrieu. I approve all the
measures you have taken ; continue to devote the
same zeal to securing those who wish us ill, and
the suspected persons ; carry out the disarming as
quickly as possible, and let no one in future say to
you that the detained? should submit to an in-
1 The metaphor is strong, but no doubt refers to the decreed
“‘expurgation’’ or ‘‘ weeding out” of the Administrative
Bodies. Such physiological language is very common in the
letters of the time.
2 “* Détenus.’”” This word is of very frequent occurrence in
the letters of this period. It refers to a mass of “‘ prisoners ’’ kept
in ‘‘ houses of arrest,’ which were not seldom their own abodes,
and against whom (political) crime was rather suspected than
proved,
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 4I
terrogatory twenty-four hours after their arrest ;
measures taken at this moment of crisis to render
them powerless to work harm cannot be submitted
to that formality. ‘ In the dangers which surround '
us the public safety is the supreme law; it
imperatively exacts their arrest without subjection
to the formalities followed in time of tranquility.
Those who by their incivism and their federalistic
preaching have so deeply wounded their country
should esteem themselves very happy that their
persons only aresecured ; those who are truly guilty
will undergo the penalty that their crime provokes.
I shall visit Saint-Brieuc shortly and then I
shall deliver the latter to the national justice. But
in the meantime continue to guard those whom
you have arrested and extend the same measures
of surety to all persons whose incivism appears to
you to threaten the national liberty and the social
harmony that should reign within your walls.
Try to discover the whereabouts of Ruperon,
who has escaped your vigilance ; prepare a list of
patriots capable of filling administrative functions
so that on my arrival at Saint-Brieuc I shall not be
embarrassed when effecting the replacements.
Continue to work for the public weal ; you will
thereby have done much for your fellow-citizens
and for your country. I am glad I can give you
my whole confidence; act so that you direct
aright the patriotic intentions which animate me,
and which will not leave me till I die,
42 CORRESPONDENCE OF
I will send your petition concerning the General
of Brigade Thevet to the Committee of Public
Safety. Iam most anxious to become acquainted
with this sans-culotte General.
Yours entirely, after the Republic’s,
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from La Revue Rétrospective, 2nd Serie, t. 5, p. 93.)
RENNES. 17th September, 1793.
Year 2 of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
CITIZENS MY COLLEAGUES,
In the present state of former Briitaby it
is impossible to make a mass levy of its popula-
tion. To attempt so disastrous a measure would
be to hoist the signal for the counter-revolution.
As it is, we can only dispose of a few feeble
detachments to restrain existing malevolence.
From Rennes rebel assistance is being sent to the
malcontents on the coast at Plélan, for example,
where secret agitations threaten us with imminent
dangers. On this subject I have obtained accurate
information.
The letter of which I am sending you a copy will |
prove that my anxiety is not without foundation.
It is at this moment when\I am surrounded by
counter-revolutionary whirlwinds,* that I learn
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 43
through Citizen Tempié, naval officer at Brest,
that the progress of the Little Vendée? between
La Gravelle and Vitré daily becomes more alarm-
ing. I have already given some orders to arrest
its disastrous course. I am going to send fifty
cannoneers thither to-day, but I am perfectly of
Citizen Tempié’s opinion—that this new nucleus
of counter-revolution must be crushed in its
origin, and for this we require a large, imposing
force; no more of these half-measures, in use
since the beginning of the Vendée, will now
suffice.
A part of the Revolutionary Force? must be
sent immediately from Paris, reinforced en route,
if possible, so that a large band of good b Ny
of sans-culoittes upon their arrival will ener-
getically crush, confound, and destroy all counter-
revolutionary assemblages between La Gravelle
and Vitré, after which the Revolutionary Torrent‘
will pour over former Brittany, uprooting every
evil and obliterating every trace of those ravages
which fanaticism has wrought therein. They are
so much the more difficult to suppress as, in the
1 The second phase of the civil war taking place in Northern
Brittany.
2 Decreed the same day, but mooted in Convention much
earlier.
’ The name by which the sans-culotte Revolutionists of Paris
chose to be known. It is obviously not representative of Carrier’s
usual way of speaking. He always accommodates his language
to his subject.
* That is, the Revolutionary Force,
44 CORRESPONDENCE OF
most fanatical cantons, the language of reason!
is not understood. The inhabitants of these
countries understand and comprehend only an
idiom which none but themselves understand and
speak.
In a word, the dangers, which however do not
intimidate me, in my estimation appear so
pressing that I have considered it indispensable
to send you word of them by a special courier.
CARRIER.
Answer to the above letter from the Committee of
Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 6, p. 543. Analysis.)
Acknowledge the receipt of these two letters.’
In view of these dangers it is expedient to redouble
vigilance. Their local knowledge, seconded by
their energy, will put them in the way of dispers-
ing these traitors and enemies of the Republic.
The Convention does not lose sight of an object so
‘important.
1 The present allusion is to the French tongue, and not to any
form of persuasiveness.
Later the Convention decreed the translation of the laws into
all the dialects and patois of the Republic.
2 There is also a letter from Pocholle on these matters.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 45
Letter from the Representatives attached to the Army
of the Coasts of Brest, and other Representa-
tives. To the Commitice of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 6, p. 558. Aulard’s
Analysis.)
NANTES. 18th September, 1793.
Letter from Representatives Ruelle, Philip-
peaux, Gillet, and Carrier,1 recommending the
petition of the Patriotic Societies of the Commune
of Nantes:
To hold out a helping hand to our unhappy
brothers, overwhelmed by terrible calamities ;
to bring into the country roo millions of precious
metal,? an appreciable fleet of 5000 men for
the immediate service of our navy; finally,
to give to this expedition the triple advantages of
effecting with us the import of stores; all these
measures merit the highest favour, and we think
we ought to recommend them very highly to you.
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 6, p. 558. Aulard’s
Analysis.)
RENNES. 18th September, 1793.
Carrier shows that his suspicions of Brest are
about to be realized. He says that there has come
1 Some mistake. Cavaignac must be intended ; for he was at
Nantes, whereas Carrier was at Rennes at this date.
2 Metal for cannon and shells are here under consideration,
rather than silver and gold.
46 CORRESPONDENCE OF
to Rennes a certain Verneuil, a soldier of the
1st Infantry Regiment of the Marine, who has
given him information concerning Brest of such a
character that he concludes this person to be an
emissary from the traitors.
Undated Answer from the Committee of Public
Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 6, p. 559.)
Your letter of the 18th September is of a
nature to increase more than ever the vigilance of
those to whom the People’s interests are confided.
The Committee of Public Safety most carefully
watches those places whose possession is of such
importance to the Republic and relies on you to
aid it by every means in your power.
Letter of Carrier and Pocholle to the Administrators
of Blain.
(Entire from Arch. Nat. MSS.)
RENNES. 109th September, 1793.
Year 2 of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
The People’s Representatives in the Department
of Ille-et-Vilaine, and Others. To the Ad-
ministrators of Blain.
CITIZENS,
We have requested you to transfer at once
to Rennes, chief-place of your Department, all the ~
ot
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 47
refractory priests who are imprisoned in the
various houses of arrest in your arrondissement ;
to do your best to arrest those who have circulated
the poison of fanaticism and to use every means of
force at your disposal to have them imprisoned
likewise.
The People’s Representatives,
CARRIER AND POCHOLLE.
Letter of Carrier to the National Convention.
(Entire from La Revue Rétrospective, 2nd Serie, t. 5, p. 95.)
RENNES. 25th September, 1793.
Year 2 of the French Republic.
CITIZENS My COLLEAGUES,
Patriotism triumphs at Rennes; every-
thing there marches along the revolutionary line.
The great and rapid changes which have just been
operated in this city are producing the most
beneficial effects over the whole of former
Brittany.
The tree of liberty was planted here a few days
after my arrival, amid the acclamations of an
immense multitude who assisted at the ceremony
with outbursts of lively joy, the sincere expres-
sions of minds embued with the sacred fire of
liberty. The entire garrison, which I had passed
in review and harangued, took up its position
round the sacred tree, mingled its transports with
theirs and chanted patriotic hymns. A civic
48 CORRESPONDENCE OF
dance, continued until the morning, brought this
touching féte to a close.
The Popular Society is being purified; it is
freeing itself from everything which had been
poisoned by the influence of royalism, feuillant-
ism, and moderatism, fanned formerly by the
impure breath of Chapelier Biribi,t the Lanjuinais,
and the Fermonts.? The members who to-day
compose it are all pronounced Republicans and
true Jacobins. :
After much difficulty and the exercise of great
care in making the choice, I with my colleague
Pocholle, who arrived here a few days ago, have
renewed all the Constituted Authorities, the
Departmental and District Administrations, the
Muncipality, and the Justices of the Peace. All
were dismissed and replaced immediately.
Assisted by the knowledge of the patriots, I
made the new elections with that spirit of justice
and impartiality always directed by a_ heart
burning for the welfare of the people. The
inhabitants of Rennes are delighted with them ;
their new Administrators are all popular, patriots,
1 Note by the editor of the Revue: ‘‘ We do not hold the key
to this sobriquet.’”’ It may, however, refer to a song very popular
in the early eighteenth century, and which appeared in the
Memoirs of the Regent’s mother, the Duchesse d’Orleans, first
published about 1788. The “chanson ’”’ in question, with its
refrain ‘‘ Biribi,’”’ refers to Law’s attempted escape at the first
hint of the collapse of his ‘“‘system.’’ It may be found in the
Memoirs alluded to, 1823 edition, p. 260.
* The proscribed Girondins.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 49
and true sans-culoties. The Administrative
machine will henceforward march with a firm and
bold step towards the common happiness. Already
the wisest measures have been decided upon to
provide for the full and punctual execution of the
latest law concerning subsistences.
When effecting the replacements we put under
arrest all the members of the old Administrations ;
and only gave them back their liberty when we
had verified all the expenses made in connection
with the Departmental Force, and we only
accorded liberty to those against whom there were
no other reproaches than that of having given
their adhesion, through error, to the Depart-
mental coalition. Every one suspected of incivism
and who has signed resolutions for taking from
the public bank the funds requisite for the
Departmental Force, remains under arrest, and
the first duty we have imposed upon such persons
is the obligation of placing in the national banks
their own deniers as payment for the funds they
have drawn out of them for the Departmental
Force. Neither the Nation nor the Citizens of the
Department of Ille-et-Vilaine can or should
support this counter-revolutionary expense.
The sum of one thousand livres, which Wimphen?
had remitted to the paymaster-general, in order
1 General Wimpffen was a believer in a ‘‘ royal democracy.”
He tried to win over the Girondist rebellion to the Royalist
Cause.
E
50 CORRESPONDENCE OF
that the Departmental Force could begin its
march, was obtained from that official: the old
Administrators even declare that they received
more than this sum, which can in no wise cover
the deficit they have made in the national banks ;
we shall therefore save this sum to the benefit of
the Republic, from the brigandage of Wimphen*
and his heinous accomplices, and the old Adminis-
trators of the Department of Ille-et-Vilaine, by a
just punishment—namely their pockets—will heal
the profound wound they have given to their
country. The paymaster-general, who, by a
culpable connivance, has paid money into their
hands, is also under arrest. We have caused all
the property of Chapelier Biribi, Lanjuinais,
Fermont, the Administrators and counter-revolu-
tionists of Rennes who have taken flight, to be
sequestrated. |
I have already given the order for Pitt’s nephew —
to be transferred to Paris ; he will probably have
arrived there by this time. The Englishman
Granville is on the way thither and perhaps has
arrived at Paris also. I gave the order for his
journey a few days ago. Lord Codrington is in
one of the prisons of Rennes; papers which I
believe to be very interesting, have been found
upon him. I shall send him before long to the |
Revolutionary Tribunal—I have recently sent —
1 Carrier keeps to this mode of spelling the General’s name,
but it is not the usual one.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 51
thither sixteen accomplices of the conspiracy of
La Royerie ;* a certain La Fleurie, accused of the
same crime, ought to have arrived there.
We have created at Rennes (5) a Committee
of Public Safety which exercises the most active
surveillance. It has caused to be arrested all
conspirators concealed or in evidence ; the one I
established at Saint-Malo is not less vigilant ; no
enemy of the common weal escapes its search :
those of Saint-Servan and Saint-Brieuc are second
to none in their beneficent vigilance; several
malevolent persons have already felt their effects.
I shall establish these Committees everywhere, so
that these unhappy countries into which my
mission calls me may be delivered from the
brigands and counter-revolutionists who infest
them.
After having made a civic round in the neigh-
bourhood of Rennes with the armed force, I shall
leave my colleague Pocholle here and go myself to
Vitré. Surveillance is carried out very well
there and so are the orders we have sent, but there
remains to be executed a great measure which
necessitates my presence. The brigands of that
district quit the villages round about to entrench
themselves in the woods, where they group them-
selves into companies and commit all manner of
crimes. I shall have a roll-call taken in these
villages after having collected positive information
1 Possibly ‘‘ La Rouerie ”’ is intended.
52 CORRESPONDENCE OF
as to the morals and conduct of those absent; I
shall have their haunts demolished and _ their
property confiscated to the profit of the Republic.
I shall have both woods and hedges burnt, as these
serve as a retreat and secure their impunity ; ina
word, I shall take the most vigorous and terrible
steps to destroy this recent nucleus of counter-
revolution.
Meanwhile we are neglecting no endeavours to
discover the hiding-place of the infamous con-
spirators banished from the Convention. We
think they are concealing their sacrilegious exist-
ence in a corner of former Brittany not far from
the sea; the surest means of surveillance and
research are being used to discover their retreat.
We are in continual correspondence with our
colleagues at Brest and Nantes. Work over-
whelms us, and encroaching on our sleep begins
already to attack our health. However, nothing
shall prevent us from continuing this course of our
regenerative operations. We owe our all to our
country ;* long ago we made it the sacrifice of our
lives, and certes, it is very sweet for us to pay it
this tribute.
We will keep you informed upon the accessory
reforms we have begun and which we hope to
finish ; and we will not permit a single royalist,
feuillant, moderate, still less a federalist or an
1 Carrier, who was a wealthy and respected ‘‘ homme de loi ”
previous to the Revolution, was practically ruined by it.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 33
- aristocrat, to hold any appointment whatever in
the Republic lest there might be some individual
profiting by its benefits and eating its bread while
destroying it. These measures, vigorous but
necessary, will bring back to former Brittany the
fine days that blazed upon it at the dawn of the
Revolution and which at present shine over
Rennes.
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
Letier of Carrier to Hérault de Sechelles, Member of
the Commitice of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 7, p. 86.)
RENNES. 27th September.
(Received 29th.)
DEAR COLLEAGUE AND FRIEND,
I sent in haste by the last post to the
National Convention the details of the great
reforms I have made in Rennes. The measure
which has been most successful is the sequestra-
tion of the property of Chapelier, Dufermon,
Lanjuinais, and of all counter-revolutionists and
officials who have taken flight. When the latter
saw their property sequestrated they went to
prison, with the exception of Duplessis, the former
Mayor, Gibert, sometime President of the Depart-
ment, and Jehan, ex-Administrator. So you see,
my dear Hérault, when dismissal, arrest, honour
54 CORRESPONDENCE OF
or freedom are the question, there are still men to
hide themselves and dwell in an insouciance both
ignominious and revolting ; men who do not fear
to compromise not only honour, but life, when
their property is at stake. There are some notably
guilty ones among the prisoners; they have
almost all signed an order to receive the sum of one
hundred thousand livres from the paymaster-
general for the levy of the Departmental Force ;
they have almost all, with one accord, tampered
with the public treasury of Lorient; all have
signed the liberticidal resolutions of the Depart-
mental Force; many of them have presented
large sheets of paper to the sections’ and have had
them signed in three columns by good citizens on
the pretext of a petition to the National Con-
vention. Afterwards they affixed federalistic
proclamations above the signatures of these
citizens !
They have committed other crimes too numer-
ous to detail. I recounted their offences to them
with the greatest publicity and vehemence, in the
large hall of the Palais de Justice, on the day of
their ejection, in the presence of the people of
Rennes, who by cries of indignation, bore witness
to their truth. They agreed ; and yet to-day they
ask me where and what are their crimes; they
demand to be questioned, heard, tried! I
1 Certain towns divided their population into “‘ sections ”’
according to the regions in which the people lived.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 38
answered with a calm and manly firmness! that
the multiplied proof of their crimes and the law
of suspected persons” rendered the measures I had
taken against them legitimate and necessary ;
that I was not a judge to hear them and to
question them; and that if they persisted in
their request for a trial I would write an order
handing them over to the Revolutionary Tribunal
which alone was capable of trying crimes of
federalism and conspiracy, for with these were
they charged. ‘‘Oh, but!” they answered, “‘ the
Revolutionary Tribunal! Oh! Oh!” They
have been remarkably silent since that answer.
They have just sent to me to ask me to try them
on the spot by the ordinary courts or by a special
commission.
Show my letter to the Committee of Public
Safety. I write to them through you; get the
Committee to take suitable measures against these
officials and hasten to forward them tome. A bad
effect would be produced if these men remained in
Rennes ; some patriots are already beginning to
feel a specious humanity for them. |
I am busy with my colleague Pocholle in
reducing the expenses of the Departmental Force.
(The Department) is now resigned to pay that
1 This would seem to be a catch-phrase of some kind between
these two “ colleagues and friends.”
* Merlin’s “‘ Law of Suspects’ was passed 17th September,
1793.
56 CORRESPONDENCE OF
expense with their last coin. In the same way the
old Municipalities have turned to the same use
the money employed in printing their liberticide
resolutions and the libels of Salle, Pétion, Bar-
baroux, Lanjuinais, and Dufermon.
The gunners forming the last-recruited con-
tingent went to Canclaux and have left for the
Army of the North. Those who remain have been
tosee me ; they have abjured their errors and have
fraternized with me, my colleague, and the
members of the People’s Clubs. But since this
return may possibly lack a desired sincerity,
though I regard them simply as misguided youths
led astray by the old Constituted Authorities, we
are engaged in organizing them, and when our
arrangements are completed they will have such
occupations as shall prevent all anxiety on their
account.
The whole of ci-devant Brittany seems like the
wavering reflection of a troubled sea. On all sides
a counter-revolutionary commotion threatens to
burst forth. I firmly believe that a counter-
revolution would have been attempted if the last
decreed contingent had been levied here. Instead
of that measure, Pocholle, my colleague, and I
thought it more worth while, indeed very neces-
sary, to establish in each Department of ci-devant
Brittany a Revolutionary Force to suppress the
ceaseless fanatic and counter-revolutionary out-
bursts in these unfortunate regions.» The plan is
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 57
matured; will it have the approval of the
Committee and the Convention ?
Everywhere daily salutary arrests continue.
At S. Brieuc, at Ploiier, at S. Servan, at Rhédon,
at Vitré, at Fougéres, counter-revolutionists and
suspected persons are arrested every day. I shall
send them on at once to the Revolutionary
Tribunal.
At the same time I intend to prepare a few
shiploads of unsworn priests, who are crowded
together in these prisons, and to entrust them toa
sailor of S. Servan known for his patriotism.
Things are going very well in Rennes ; flaming
civism triumphs here ; but things will not go well
in the rest of Brittany, or not without a great deal
of trouble.
Adieu, my good old friend. This work has
strangely broken down my health. Yesterday I
was very ill. Had not this indisposition come
upon me I would have flown to Nantes, the centre
of counter-revolution, unfailing source of supplies
to the Vendée, where my colleagues have allowed
two People’s Clubs to remain, one of which is only
composed of counter-revolutionists. It is to half-
measures, to a culpable indulgence, that we owe
the reverses we have lately experienced in the
1 There is no reason to suppose, as some historians have done,
that Carrier was contemplating a “ noyade.’”’ He gives his
reasons why the simple transportation could not be carried out
(the English vessels in the road). A ‘‘noyade’”’ only required
the home waters,
58 CORRESPONDENCE OF
direction of Nantes, which will become another
Lyons if we do not give it our attention.
Greeting, fraternity,
CARRIER.
Letter of Hérault de Sechelles to Carrier.
(Entire from Arch. Nat. MSS. Armoire de Fer, Paris.
Also Recueil des Actes, t. 7, p. 115.)
Paris. 29th September, 1793.
Year 2 of the French Republic.
So that’s how things are going, good old friend !
Courage, my brave Republican. I have just
received your letter, and at the same moment I
read it to the Committee of Public Safety ; its
members heard it with marked satisfaction. We
ourselves should be. extremely glad, and the
Republic vigorous and flourishing if everywhere
there were agents as energetic as you and your
colleagues. « If your health would allow, you ought
to beat Nantes. Weurge you to go there immedi-
ately. We are sending you an order which will
authorize you to purge this town, a matter of the
utmost importance. »
The English threaten at our gates and our
frontiers ; we have reason enough for fear in the
direction of Brest. The Commissioners are already
there and we are making plans to send others.
For your part, have a care in that direction as
much as you possibly can. The city must be
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 59
evacuated [sic] and every suspected person
imprisoned ; the cause of liberty allows no
compromise. We can be humane only when we
are undeniably victorious. :
The Committee intends that you should go
either alone or with your colleague from Rennes
to Nantes, from Nantes to Rennes, etc. etc. ; the
character of the National Representation displays
itself with more force and empire when the
Representatives do not remain in one place,
when they have not the time to increase their
friendship and party ties (alliances et leurs com-
pliances), when they strike huge blows in passing
and leave, except in following it up, the responsi-
bility on those charged with executing them.
Above all, my friend, I embrace you; every
time you want to write count on my diligence in
thanking you and in answering. |
We advise you to dismiss at once, at Nantes and
elsewhere, federalistic and counter-revolutionary
officials.
Greeting, friendship, fraternity,
HERAULT.
P.S.—A thousand remembrances to Pocholle,
that good patriot.
60 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Committee of Public Safety. Sitting of September
29th, 1703.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 7, p. 109.)
Present: Barére, Hérault, Prieur (of Marne),
Carnot, Billaud-Varenne, C.-A. Prieur.
_ I. The Committee of Public Safety, in accord-
ance with the information received from the
People’s Representatives near Brest, resolves that
Citizen Carrier, People’s Representative in Ile-et-
Vilaine, shall go to Nantes forthwith for the execu-
tion of the measures prescribed by the decree of
5th August last, concerning the several members
of the Constituted Authorities to be dismissed,
and shall there take, conformably to the powers
delegated to him, all measures of Public Safety
necessary.
B. BARERE, PRIEUR (of Marne), HERAULT,
CARNOT, BILLAUD-VARENNE, C.-A. PRIEUR.
(In Barére’s hand-writing.)
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 61
Letter of Carrier and Pocholle to the National
Gendarmerie at S. Malo.
(Entire from MSS. Arch. Nat.,. Paris.)
RENNES. 31st September, 1793.
IN THE NAME OF THE REPUBLIC.
The People’s Representatives in the Department
of Ile-et-Vilaine, and Others.
Authorize the National Gendarmerie of the
District of S. Malo to exchange their horses for
horses de luxe or for those of émigrés which have
been seized in accordance with the law.
At Rennes. 31st September, 1793. Year 2 of
the Republic One and Indivisible.
The People’s Representatives,
CARRIER AND POCHOLLE.
Letter of Carrier to the Convention."
(Entire from La Revue Rétrospective, 2nd Serie, t. 5, p. I0t.)
RENNES. 2nd October, 1793.
Year 2 of the French Republic.
CITIZENS MY COLLEAGUES,
Public spirit has never been entirely per-
verted in Rennes ; its sacred fire has always been
preserved in the heart of the numerous and brave
1 The Procés-Verbal of the National Convention, t. 22, p. 115,
gives a short analysis only of this letter, the Recueil, t. 7, p. 189,
an “analysis” of this analysis; the Procés uses the word
“‘ robbinocratie ’” and Aulard “‘ rabbinocratie.’’
62 CORRESPONDENCE OF
sans-culotterie that belongs to this city. The
outbursts of its patriotism have only been
paralysed for a short time by the coalition of
“‘robinocratie’’! which swarms in this formerly
parliamentary town, and of the old Constituted
Authorities who had planned, adopted, and
followed the most effective measures for assassin-
ating liberty and bringing about the triumph of
the Departmental conspiracy. To-day all these
weighty chains are broken, the energy of repressed
Republicanism is expanding and rising to the
height to which the genius of Philosophy is
calling us.
A fanatic bishop launched his thunderbolts of
anathema against the ministers of the Catholic
cultus who have followed the holy laws of Nature
by entering into the bonds of marriage. This
effrenzied enemy of nature, morality, and social
harmony, was put under arrest, and the day before
yesterday a virtuous citizen gave as the first
example in this place of braving and trampling
underfoot the absurd and _ senseless prejudice
invented by the refined /ubricité of the ancient and
luxurious hypocrites in soutane. Jean-Marie-
Anne Collet, minister of the Catholic cultus, has
married a young citizeness of Rennes. The
ceremony, a touching one, which assures the
conquest of philosophy over prejudice, has taken
place. I accompanied the bride during the whole
7 1 Men of the “ robe,”’ shady lawyers;
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 63
féte ; an immense crowd of people of all ages and
both sexes surrounded and followed us, awaking
the echoes with their cries of joy: “ Vive la
République! Vive la Convention! Vivent les
bons prétres quise marient!’’ A civic banquet, a
gay dance, both sans-culotte and well-attended,
concluded this delightful scene. Several ministers
of the Catholic cultus, all the new Constituted
Authorities of Rennes, and a large number of the
members of the Popular Society assisted at it.
A true apostle of the Gospel pronounced a very
good discourse, which is being printed. The next
day the Popular Society, six ministers of the
Catholic cultus at their head, went eu masse to
the house of Citizen Collet to express their
satisfaction which his regenerating union had
inspired in the friends of nature and its laws. |
There was another example no less interesting.
Citizen Cordier, surgeon-major of the 7th Battalion
of the Somme, which we had summoned to Rennes,
is father of twelve children, seven boys and five
girls. The father and the seven lads all serve in
the armies of the Republic. This respectable
parent, a very pronounced Republican, wishes to
have with him the youngest of his sons, Pierre-
Francois Cordier, dragoon of the 15th Regiment,
formerly Noailles. As the Battalion of the 44th
Regiment is at present amalgamated with the
Battalion of the Somme and has no surgeon-
major of its own, he would like to see his son
64 CORRESPONDENCE OF
placed in it in that capacity. According to the
information I have been able to gather, he
possesses all the necessary qualifications for this
employment ; but as he is placed in another corps,
will the Convention agree to authorize a displace-
ment prohibited by the law, in favour of a
venerable man who is consecrating his latter days
and those of his children to his country’s defence ?
All the conspirators, all the suspected persons
of Rennes and its neighbourhood, are falling into
the hands of the patriots; none escape our
vigilance, which we are extending as far as possible.
I am sending my colleague Sévestre* the list of
those under arrest and, ceries, it is not a short one.
We are sending detachments wherever there are
guilty persons to be found and are arresting them.
We are planning a great measure which will
produce the most beneficent effects in this town ;
we will send you an account of it shortly. Some
very guilty individuals have so far escaped our
search, but we shall discover them or the
scoundrels will have taken very secret steps to
save their criminal existence by flight from these
distracted countries.
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
1 On mission in these regions.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 65
Letter of Carrier to the Sections Des Droits de
L’Homme attached to the 2nd Battalion of the
Seine-Inférieure, in the Detachment at La
Guerche.
(Entire from La Revue Rétrospective, 2nd Serie, t. 5, p. 99.)
RENNES. 2nd October, 1793.
Year 2 of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
BRAVE BROTHERS,
I send you with pleasure the order for
disarming and arresting all the suspected indi-
viduals whom Citizen Lefébre, Adjunct to the
Adjutant-Generals of the Army of the Coast of
Brest, indicates to you. Try, with him, to reduce
to powerlessness to injure our growing Republic
all those conspirators, royalists and moderates,
who exhale their infectious poison over our land ;
measures of indulgence only palliate the evils they
commit against their country. A sad experience
should have taught us that a mild philosophy has
no access to perverse hearts, animated with the
hope and desire of vengeance and treason. Virtue
makes no alliance with crime; it is for you,
intrepid and pure defenders of the national liberty,
to carry out with firmness the orders I give you.
Your Republicanism, your conduct, are my sure
guarantees of what you will do to maintain the
common cause.
F
66 CORRESPONDENCE OF
I highly approve your efforts in La Guerche to
establish a Popular Society as well as the autodafé
of the baubles of the ancient régime which have
recently offended your Republican eyes. Continue,
brave cannoneers, to examine public spirit every-
where ; compose your Popular Societies with care ;
your efforts for strengthening liberty in the
interior will add further renown to the glory which
you acquire by your arms. It is your own cause,
it is the cause of all, it is the happiness of every
Frenchman whose triumph you will assure.
Greeting and eternal fraternity,
CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 7, p. 216.)
RENNES. 4th October, 1793.
(Received 7th.)
CITIZEN COLLEAGUES,
All I foretold concerning General Beysser
has been fulfilled to the letter; I do not know
whether the sinister prognostications I have to
announce to you will be realized similarly. I have
just heard on good authority that after our late
reverses General Canclaux will not be slow in
imitating Beysser ; that Nantes, as I have already
informed you, is in open counter-revolution ; that
there are in that city two clubs, of which the
smaller, S. Vincent, professes good principles,
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 67
whereas the other! is in open conspiracy ; that
our colleagues, with the exception of Gillet, are
concerned with a display of an Asiatic luxury and
do not care at all for the State nor for those who
direct it ; that you have been misinformed as to
the number of rebels, whose army consists of two
hundred thousand men. I should myself have
gone thither had not an indisposition kept me in
Rennes, and would have given you reliable
information. All I can say with certainty is that
I have made violent reproaches to my colleagues
for allowing counter-revolution to develop under
their very eyes at Nantes ; they have asked me to
go there to dismiss the Constituted Authorities, to
dissolve the club and to make all the reforms
which the public safety demands.* Though my
presence is very necessary at Rennes, at Vitré, and
in Morbihan, I shall go to Nantes to-morrow or
the next day, and rest assured that there, as well
as everywhere else, my unshaken firmness will
denounce and bring to nought all abuses, traitors,
and conspirators.
This hot-bed of counter-revolution is more to
be feared than the whole coalition of powerful
enemies. Only a spark is needed to cause a blaze.
Send to Nantes a sans-culotte general on whom
1 The Popular Societies of Vincent-la-Montagne and Les
Halles. The latter was the resort of the professional classes (the
“ robinocratie’’) and shortly after this date was closed.
* Carrier has evidently not received as yet the Committee’s
order of the 29th September.
68 CORRESPONDENCE OF
you can rely ; moments are more important than
you can possibly imagine.
Greeting and fraternity,
3 CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to Bourchotte, Minister of War.
(Entire from the Correspondance du Comité de Salut Public,
Mise en Ordre par M. Legros, t. 1, p. 292. Paris, 1837.)
RENNES. 5th October, 1793.
SANS-CULOTTE MINISTER,
I am setting out for Nantes, where treason
has been allowed to organize itself and the counter-
revolution to make the most threatening progress.
You can take my word for it that I shall be a true
disorganizer there, for establishing the triumph of
the sans-culotierte. I will send you word of the
measures I shall take; meanwhile, receive the
petition of General Thevet-Leyser, whose civism
is vouched for by excellent Republicans. You
will kindly send the surgeon-major of the 7th
Battalion of the Somme, a very pronounced
Republican, a commission in exchange for the
nomination that I am sending you.
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.!
1 See pages 42 and 63 for the “‘ affaires ’’ General of Brigade
Thevet and Surgeon-Major Cordier.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 69
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 7, p. 286.)
NANTES. 7th October, 17093.
(Received 13th October.)
CITIZEN COLLEAGUES,
We summoned to us at Rennes Citizen
Héron, naval officer at S. Malo. It was our
intention to entrust to him the deportation of
refractory priests, former nuns, and the bishop
imprisoned at Rennes. I am well acquainted
with this brave officer. Pocholle and I gave him
an order and he would have carried it out, only
he drew our attention to the fact that it was im-
possible to leave the roadstead at S. Malo without
being exposed to the English boats.?, What a pity
this was! We had to abandon our salutary
project. We have another plan. We are sending
all the malintentioned, destined earlier to a radical
deportation, to Saint-Michel. They will there
undergo strict confinement, and since all com-
munication will be impossible owing to the
position of the fort in the sea, they will not be able
1 The bishop Le Coz. See letter of Carrier to the Committee
of Public Safety, 8th September.
* See Carrier’s letter to Hérault, p. 53. The sailor is there
spoken of as coming from S. Servan. The place of intending
deportation was probably one of the French convict stations.
It is clear from the present allusion that no ‘‘ noyade ” was in
contemplation,
70 CORRESPONDENCE OF
to corrupt public opinion by the poison of
fanaticism. We have given orders that federalists
who did not merit capital punishment shall be
placed in the same fort. When we have finished
this work we shall visit the fort and make sure
that those measures are carried out whose
execution we must at present defer.
Before leaving Rennes we dismissed every
royalist, feuillant, aristocrat, federalist, and
moderate there was in it. The posts connected
with food supply, provender, accounts, and
registration have been revised and entrusted to
good patriots. One part alone, the hospital
department, has escaped our reforms, but attention
to that is only postponed. All the old medical
officers stink of aristocracy ; the young ones are
muscadins,' royalists’ minions, and federalists,
who have slipped into these positions to avoid
taking their delicate Adonis frames to the
frontiers. To do away with the detestable breed
we have entrusted the management of the affair
of the Englishman Lodringhton? and of three or
four other conspirators at the Revolutionary
1 Or young dandies. Carrier’s hatred against these was very
profound, but he did not think them lost to all sense of good.
Speaking of them in Paris, at a later date, he says: “ They are
recognized by their square-tailed coats, their fine hands, their
* pointed shoes. . . . But though accustomed to a soft life...
they are not incapable of defending the Republic. They are
Frenchmen, on the field of honour they will fight well,’ etc.
(Moniteur, t. 21, p. 679.)
2 Thus the Recueil. Codrington is of course intended,
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER mI
Tribunal, to a War Commissioner, a Parisian and
an excellent patriot whom we are ordering to do
some recruiting for us in Paris of brave fathers,
doctors, and surgeons of the Jacobins and
Cordeliers,! who will come to Rennes to fulfil the
functions of medical officers in the hospitals and
will contribute not a little to maintain public
spirit at the height to which we have raised it.
We saw there our colleagues Jean-Bon Saint-
André and Prieur (of Marne) who were delighted
at the Republican energy developing in Rennes.
The happy and swift movement we have
begun spreads throughout Brittany. Quimper,
Quimperlé, Lorient, Dinan, Vannes, have sent
us two kinds of deputations: the one of partiots,
the other of federalists ; the first to demand the
punishment of the last, and the second to ask for
indulgence! How it grieves me to leave this
district even for a time! How everything, public
spirit itself, tends in the right direction! At
S. Brieuc a hundred and twenty suspects have
been arrested by my orders. What a magnificent
example! What a salutary example it will be to ~
the whole of Lower Brittany’! At Dinan forty-
five men and fifty women are under arrest ; the
federalistic club and the literary society are
dissolved and closed. At Rédon our ill-wishers
are under arrest. At Chateaubriant an armed
1 The two chief clubs in Paris. Fathers are required for this
work, the better to send the unmarried men to the frontiers,
72 CORRESPONDENCE OF
force arrests the counter-revolutionists. People’s
clubs are founded there ; the national guards are
being organized, measures neglected up to the
present moment. The same activities are in
progress at Montford and Vitré: they are in
readiness for Fougéres.
Arrived yesterday in Nantes, my first care
would have been to break up the Constituted
Authorities, dissolve the federalistic club, add
Commissioners from each section to the Com-
mittee of Public Safety established there, annul all
certificates of civism, order the Municipality to
issue new ones of which the Committee of
Surveillance should approve, arrest everybody not
possessing one, introduce domiciliary visitation,
disarm all suspects so that the patriots may have
arms, have all necessary arrests made, visit all the
workshops, and in a word have the Carmagnole
danced spontaneously. But the arrival of my
colleagues Prieur (of Cote d’Or) and Hentz with
General L’Echelle has made me postpone these
salutary measures.?
They with my colleagues who are here, have
delegated to me the charge of introducing and
installing the new General-in-Chief of the Army.
I am going to start in a moment, and I may be
obliged to stay there a few days to remove some
unfortunate traces of attachment to the old
1 An epitome of all conceivable revolutionary doings,
* The new sans-culoite General asked for.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 73
generals on the part of the Army. My colleagues
Prieur and Hentz will give you an account of the
measures we have had to take.
I must warn you that there are in the prisons of
Nantes people arrested as prime movers of the
Vendée.? Instead of amusing myself by bringing
them to trial, I shall send them to their own
homes to be shot.? These terrible examples will
overawe the ill-disposed and will restrain those
who might have a desire to swell the cohort of the
brigands. They are believed to be alive as long as
their punishment is not actually seen.
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
(Written on the envelope by the receiver of the
letter: ‘‘ The details of these operations are
interesting. Rigorous and revolutionary measures
are very useful and ought to be employed ; it is
only by clearing these districts of conspirators and
federalists that the good fortune of having a
Republic will be experienced.’’)
1 Some of these unfortunate individuals belonged to the
famous company of the Cent Trenie Deux.
* Carrier’s threat, the outcome of the general nervousness at
the near approach of the Insurrection, was not carried out.
74 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Answer from the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 7, p. 289.)
Paris. (Undated.)
The Committee has received, Citizen Colleague,
your letter dated 7th October, in which you
inform us of the steps you have taken in trans-
ferring to Mont-S.-Michel refractory priests and
other fanatics who for too long a time have
corrupted Republican soil. And continuing as
you are doing, to purge the body politic of the
evil humours spreading in it, you hasten the
coming of that happy time when Liberty, seated
on the ruins of despotism, will give the French
People draughts of true happiness, merited more
and more by the increasing sacrifices made for it.
Letter of Carrier to Hérault de Sechelles.
(Entire from Lallie, J.-B. Carrier, p. 41. Also Comte Fleury,
Carrier a Nantes, p. 498.)
HEAD-QUARTERS, MONTAIGU.
11th October, 1793.
Year 2 of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
I have arrived at Montaigu, my good friend,
with L’Echelle, General-in-Chief, on the gth, at
six o’clock in the evening, in virtue of the mission
with which my colleagues Hentz and Prieur (of
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 75
Céte d’Or) have invested at Nantes. How I
regret not having had the time to continue my
revolutionary operations in that town, and to
finish them in all ci-devant Brittany! As a
sincere Republican I must tell you that I enjoyed
in these countries the confidence of the sans-
culotterie, and that my name alone inspires a
salutary terror to all counter-revolutionists and
federalists. Already every commune in Brittany,
and especially the principal towns, have sent me
deputations of two kinds of patriots to demand
the punishment of federalists and of the emissaries
of the latter asking for the national indulgence.
Already Nantes is in terror lest the bolts from the
revolutionary thundercloud speed from my hands.
The chief conspirators took flight by night, the
evening of my arrival, in spite of my orders given
to the Temporary Commandant, who had been
described to me as an excellent. sans-culotie, to
allow no one to leave without his permission.
The care of performing revolutionary functions
has been delegated to Meaulle, who was there for
the moment, and my other colleagues. He
fulfilled them to be sure very well, but I feel so
strongly the necessity of vigorously exposing
federalistic ideas, of stifling them in their germ,
and of making sure of the perfidious partisans of
these liberticide measures, that I am always
afraid lest one should not employ that apparatus
terrible for the ill-disposed, triumphant for the
76 CORRESPONDENCE OF
patriots, which alone can make for the strengthen-
ing of the national liberty. But since my
colleagues, sent by the Committee of Public Safety,
have considered it proper to confer upon me
another mission, I will fulfil it with the zeal and
firmness which you know me to possess.
On my arrival at Montaigu I found there my
colleagues Merlin and Turreau.t We at once
assembled the Generals of the Army to contrive
a plan of attack on Mortagne. The Minister of
War will give the Committee of Public Safety
information with regard to this. The General
detailed to him the measures we should under-
take.? Every moment we are expecting the
arrival of the ordnance we sent to the armies of
Les Sables and Lucon, which be believe united at
Chatillon. As soon as we have news of it we shall
march on Mortagne.
While waiting the return of our ordnance, on
the night of our arrival, we sent off four thousand
soldiers to attack Charette, who had formed a
muster of forces at Légé for the purpose of inter-
cepting our communications with Nantes. At the
approach of our troops he fled away with his not
very considerable assemblage, so that our men
returned at once.
Yesterday and to-day several communes have
come to promise fidelity to the Republic. One of
1 Merlin of Thionville, and Turreau, cousin of General Turreau.
* Seefnote (6), p. 249, for this letter.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER ot
them has brought arms. We kept all the indi-
viduals who gave themselves up! and, this evening,
shallso arrange with the generals and my colleagues
Merlin and Turreau, who set out last night for
Nantes and who should return to-day, that
measures may be taken in a case which appears
to me sufficiently embarrassing according to all
reports.
The burning of the mills and houses, and the
lifting of cattle especially, contribute singularly
to this return, to the sincerity of which I add no
other evidence, although the rebels have made
several communes march against their will.
The day after my arrival I installed the General-
in-Chief.
I read to the battalions the proclamation drawn
up by my colleagues Hentz and Prieur. I|
harangued them all, as did Merlin and Turreau.
No battalion has expressed regrets to us on the
retirement of Canclaux. A few have done so on
that of Dubayet, but in concert with my two
colleagues we said that they were not soldiers of
one man but rather of the Republic; that the —
individual is nothing, the Republic is all; that
1 On the 8th Vendémiaire of the following year a fierce storm
rose in Convention concerning the surrendering of these same
communes. Carrier, attacked on all sides, showed that his part
had been a very humble one, and had chiefly limited itself to the
bestowal of brandy and bread upon certain of them. Merlin,
asked to support this statement, contented himself with eulogizing
his own conduct. (See Moniteur, t. 22, p. 113 et seq.)
78 CORRESPONDENCE OF
they form a portion of this all ; that it is upon the
blood-stained image of their country, torn without
and within by the nobiliary caste, that their atten-
tion should be fixed ; that ex-nobles commanding
the revolted troops of the Vendée, the Republic
must not count with confidence upon Dubayet, a
former noble, having the firm intention of fighting
against them and of exterminating them. We re-
called to their minds the military life of allthe former
nobles who have fought at the head of our armies,
and who had marked their beginnings by victories
and ended by treason. These words calmed
regrets and we had the double satisfaction of
hearing on all sides cries of “‘ Long life to the
Republic! Long life to the Sans-culoties !’”
The new General, who spoke to all the battalions,
was very well received.
The Army is very well disposed with regard to
encampment, principles, and bravery; the
soldiers only ask to fly to battle. I am longing to
hear that we are expecting to follow them thither.
Merlin knows the ground very well. He has some
knowledge of military tactics. He only asks for
active service. He fights as a brave grenadier
and has the confidence of the whole Army. He it
was who first gave the advice to march against
1 [ have read this account in almost identical terms in other
letters from other Representatives. Though Carrier ‘“ harangued”’
the soldiers in the manner agreed upon, we shall presently find
him commiserating good soldiers who are unfortunately nobles.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 70
Charette. Turreau gave me the most flattering
testimony to that effect; he believes (Merlin)
very necessary to the Army. I have neither seen
nor heard anything against him which would
warrant any kind of suspicion.*
I have received an account concerning the check
experienced by the Army. Beysser alone seems to
me guilty. However, I will get hold of all the
information necessary ; nothing shall escape my
vigilance, and be very sure that, recognizing only
my country, desiring only her liberty, her pros-
perity, and the speedy termination of the war that
is desolating her, there shall be no abuse, not the
smallest kind of incivism, not the least tergiversa-
tion, which I shall not denounce or punish. You
may be my security for this to the Committee of
Public Safety, the Convention, and entire France.
Greeting, fraternity, friendship,
CARRIER.’
1 Complaints had been made to the Committee of Public
Safety against Merlin (of Thionville), and Carrier’s opinion seems
to have been asked concerning this Representative a little
“suspect.”” His testimony to Merlin’s Republican integrity
was ill-repaid at the date of his own disgrace. For particulars,
see the great quarrel among the Representatives in Convention
on the 8th Vendémiaire following, in consequence of the sweeping
denunciation of Lecointre (of Versailles). (Moniteur, t. 22.)
* This letter was possibly in reply to the letter of Hérault de
Sechelles. The name of the person to whom it was written is
unknown. It bears only the words, “‘ Received the 22nd of the
first month, 14th October, 1793.’’ The original is in the Biblio-
théque of Nantes. . . . Note by Lallié. In spite of his promise
Hérault did not reply to this letter.
80 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Sitting of the Convention, 22 Vendémiaire.t Year 2.
13th October, 1793.
(Entire from the Moniteur, t. 18, p. 120.)
[After having heard the Report of Prieur (of
Céte d’Or) and Hentz, returned from the Army of
the West :]
‘“‘ The National Convention, after having heard —
the Report of the Committee of Public Safety,
decrees :
“ Art. I, The People’s Representatives attached
to the Army of the West shall be Citizens Carrier,
Bourbotte, Francastel, Pinet (a#né), and Turreau.
“TI. They will proceed without delay to the
head-quarters of the Army for the purpose of con-
certing upon the operations which are confided to
them.
‘TIT. The other People’s Representatives who
were previously attached to the same Army will
return to the National Convention after the
arrival of the above-named Representatives
nominated to replace them.”’
Letter of Carrier to the Convention.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 7, p. 448.)
CHOLET. 16th October, 17093.
CITIZEN COLLEAGUES,
The Army of the West formed on the 14th
in two columns; one, composed of troops from
1 Romme’s Republican Calendar now comes into full use.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 81
Lucgon, passed by Les Herbiers; the other, of
troops from Mayence, has marched from Montaigu
on Tiffauges. This position was held by the
brigands ; they rang the tocsin on the approach
of our Army and flung themselves into the woods,
so that we entered Tiffauges without much
trouble.
The next day (the 15th), after the column had
set out, Turreau had this resort of brigands burnt.
The vanguard was marching towards Mortagne by
the Cholet road, when our colleague Merlin sent
word to us that he was marching towards the
brigands at La Romagne; we learnt a moment
afterwards that he had passed them with his
mounted chasseurs and the legions of Cassel? and
the Franks.
Following the road to Mortagne we found only
a few outposts ; all had fallen before the blows of
our brave Republicans. Arrived in sight of
Mortagne with the body of our Army, we saw the
town occupied by the vanguard and our colleague
Turreau, who in order to effect an entry had set
fire to the suburbs and charged the brigands with
his mounted chasseurs, who made more than
twenty bite the dust.
We learnt that the brigands had only evacuated
this well-known retreat of theirs to dispute the
road to Cholet with us. We summoned a Council
of War, consisting of the People’s Representatives
1 Used in the Vendée after capitulation to the Prussians.
‘ |
82 CORRESPONDENCE OF
and Officers of the Staff, and there on a rock the
order was issued to attack the enemy in two
columns. Hardly was the order received when we
heard the cannon. Merlin, with our colleague
Cambon’s brother,’ had gone to meet the enemy ;
they found themselves surrounded ; Cambon was
unhorsed and slightly wounded; they only
returned to us by cutting their way through the
midst of the enemy.
Turreau marched with the column from Lucon,
led by the brave General Bard.2 They were at
first frightened by the number of the enemy and
the heavy fire of their artillery. Merlin was with
the column from Mayence,* and encouraged by
his presence, they achieved prodigies of valour.
Seeing a movement on the enemy’s right to pass
over our left flank, General Beaupuy gave a
bayonet charge from their rear, and took two
pieces of cannon, which he caused to be pointed
against them immediately, while General Kléber,
whose coolness equals his bravery, and our
colleague Turreau, were chasing the enemy to the
1 “ Our colleague Cambon ”’ was the great financier of the
Revolution.
2 Is this the General ‘‘ Barge ’’ of below ?
* On the capitulation of Mayence to the Prussians the garrison
marched out with all the honours of war, on the condition that it
did not again fight the Allies. The French Government accord-
ingly despatched it to the Vendée, for the Allies, by some culpable
oversight, had not made terms rendering this impossible. It
shows how little faith the Coalition really possessed in the Ven-
dean Insurrection. See also the Legion of Cassel.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 83
very walls of Cholet, after having captured four
pieces of cannon.
L’Echelle, the General-in-Chief, was at the
head of Vimeux’ division, and in his turn pursued
the enemy on the right. The affair was very swift
and hot. A few brave Republicans perished for
the sake of their country. Among them was
Tyrau, Commander of the Legion of Cassel; La
Bruyére, Adjutant of General Besson, who him-
self sealed the people’s cause with his blood ; but
they are avenged; a number of brigands have
bitten the dust, and many of their leaders have
remained on the battlefield.
All our wounded cried ‘‘ Long life to the
Republic!’’ Of these are Generals Barge and
Targe, (the latter) Chief of the Frankish Legion,
who by his intrepid action at Port-Saint-Pére has
already drawn upon himself the attention of the
National Convention.
Every man did his duty; evening alone
separated the combatants. Our cannon growled
over Cholet all night. The attacking column
remained in good order with the Army until dawn,
but hardly had the light come than Targe, in spite
of his wound, entered Cholet at the head of his
Franks. The columns followed him soon after.
This triumphant entry was only a passing through ;
we were careful not to let them stay there. They
took up a position well to the fore.
We found in Cholet six pieces of cannon,
84 CORRESPONDENCE OF
twenty powder carts, a well-furnished arsenal,
and the correspondence of the rebels, which we are
forwarding to the Committee of Public Safety.
At present we are taking the most effective
measures to finish the extermination of the hordes
of scoundrels who are bringing desolation to the
heart of the Republic. Those who fought under
my eyes love her as sincerely as they defend her
bravely. :
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
Letter of Bellegarde, Choudieu, Fayau, Bourbotte,
Turreau, Merlin (of Thionville), and Carner.
To the National Convention.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 7, p. 492. Aulard’s
Analysis.)
BEAUPREAU.
27th day of the 1st month of the and Y ear
(18th October, 1793).
Bellegarde, Choudieu, Fayau, Bourbotte,
Turreau, Merlin (of Thionville), and Carrier,
announce that the brigands, beaten the previous
evening, had the audacity to attack Cholet ; that
they were beaten and pursued, and that during
the night the soldiers entered Beaupréau. The
brigand chiefs, D’Elbée and Bonchamps, have
been dangerously wounded ; twenty-two cannon
and some provisions were taken from the enemy.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 85
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 7, p. 519.)
NANTES. 29th of the Ist month. Year 2
(20th October, 1793).
(Received 24th October.)
CITIZEN COLLEAGUES,
The united columns from Montaigu and
Lucon entered Cholet on the 16th. During the
night 16-17th October, the column from Chatillon
took up its position under the walls of the town.
When the Army of the West was thus assembled,
a Council of War was held in the morning of the
17th to decide about the march on Beaupréau,
the brigands’ principal resort. Our posts were
admirably placed, and resolute measures were
nearing execution when the brigands, issuing
furiously from the woods round Cholet, which we
were unable to burn on account of their greenness,
dashed on our outposts, keeping up a sharp,
continuous fire. They possessed formidable
artillery, and their most famous chiefs were at
their head. They advanced rapidly and boldly,
but the body of our Army repulsed them with
such vigour that after a desperately prolonged fire
their rout was complete. We captured twelve
pieces of cannon and pursued them as far as
Beaupréau ; and the battlefield and ground from
Cholet to Beaupréau is strewn with dead.
86 CORRESPONDENCE OF
D’Elbée and Bonchamps were mortally wounded ;
it is impossible to estimate the brigands’ loss in
this affair, the most sanguinary they have had.
Our loss was quite inconsiderable ; we had very
few deaths, but the number of wounded was
greater.
One division of our Army in pursuit reached the
walls of Beaupréau at midnight; the outposts
were killed and the entry was effected with the
greatest ease. After all the rebels there had
fallen the remnant was again routed. In the
town a powder factory, a saltpetre magazine,
eight pieces of cannon, waggons, bread in plenty,
and brandy, was found. The remainder of our
troops joined the Beaupréau division on the next
day, the 18th. We had made preparations for
attacking S. Florent when we were informed that
the rebels had already evacuated this latter
refuge and had crossed the Loire. This news
came to us from four thousand prisoners from
S. Florent, who confirmed the rumour of D’Elbée’s
death.! We set free twelve hundred prisoners at
Beaupréau, about three hundred at Cholet, nearly
four thousand at Mortagne, and twenty-two at
Tiffauges. Tears of gladness sprang to our eyes
as we rejoiced in the touching spectacle of brave
defenders of our Fatherland, martyred by the
1 This news was premature; D’Elbée, though mortally
wounded, escaped to Ille Noirmoutier, where later he was cap-
tured and shot.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 87
brigands’ cruelties, restored to liberty. These
unhappy beings, emerging from their cells, seemed
to us spectres, no more than pitiful copies of
human forms. We were not sure that they still
lived until we heard their cries of ‘‘ Long life to the
Republic! Long life to those who have delivered
us!’’ Almost all had printed the word LIBERTY
on the skin of their right arm, ‘so that,” they
said to us, ‘‘ our fellow-citizens might know we
died free.”’ |
Under these circumstances, five thousand men
were sent to S. Florent, and there, falling on the
rebels, caused the death of many by drowning.
The Commandant of this detachment has orders
to attempt the passage of the Loire so as to
continue the pursuit. The rest of the troops have
passed Nantes to-day and occupy the camp of
S. Georges, on the right bank of the Loire, a
league in front of the town.
I left Beaupréau yesterday with Westermann
at the head of an hundred horsemen of his legion.
We cleared the road from this place to Nantes.
The rebels fled everywhere at our approach. At
Vallet we killed several of them and set free sixty
prisoners who were about to be shot: their
infamous murderers escaped at sight of us, we
were only able to kill seven or eight of them.
Our arrival at Nantes brought consolation to the
+ A town on the left bank of the Loire, just opposite Ancenis
on the right.
88 CORRESPONDENCE OF
patriot soul and confounded the counter-revolu-
tionists. As I intend to make the one triumph
and to strike heavy blows at the others, I shall try
to stay here a few days.! I shall arrange matters
in such a way to-day that the most guilty shall be
shot, that is to say, those who have been supplied
with instruments of rebellion. All will go well
here, but, confound it, terrible examples and a
vigorous pursuit of brigands will be necessary :
these our soldiers and generals desire as earnestly
as we do.
CARRIER.
The Representatives at the Army of the West to the
National Convention.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 7, p. 575. Aulard’s
Analysis.)
NANTES.
The 1st day of the 2nd month of the year 2
(22 October).
Ruelle, Gillet, and Carrier, transmit a letter
which their colleague Merlin (of Thionville) has
written them, and in which is recounted in detail
the recapture of Ancenis by the Republican
troops.
1 The Committee’s order of the 29th September does not seem
to have reached Carrier even yet.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 89
| Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire as in Arch. Nat., Paris, MSS.)
and or 3rd Brumaire. Year 2
(October 23rd or 24th, 1793.)
‘Carrier gives details of the Vendean Campaign.
He says that orders to burn are unnecessary ;
they have burnt all the buildings in the revolted
districts.
Letter of Carrier, Ruelle, and Francastel.
(Entire from the Bulletin de la Convention Nationale. Sitting
of the 1st day of the 2nd decade of the 2nd month of the
year 2 of the French Republic.)
Letter from the People’s Representatives attached
to the Armies of the West, dated from Nantes.
7th day, 1st decade, 2nd month, 2nd year of
the Republic.
NANTES. (28th October, 1793).
We have just discovered the ex-deputy
Coustard ;! and are sending him to Paris.
The outposts of the reserve of the Army of the
West, returned to Nantes from an important
expedition, yesterday defeated an assemblage of
brigands which had been formed at Rouans, near
Port-Saint-Pére. We have taken from them two
1 A deputy of the Gironde ; guillotined 18th Brumaire, Year 2,
go CORRESPONDENCE OF
pieces of cannon and killed or wounded all who
offered resistance.
A municipal officer, in refuge at Paimboeuf, a
very well known patriot, has apprised us a moment
ago that out of five English troopships, which
carried provisions to the rebels blocaded in
Noirmoutier, our frigates guarding these quarters
have sunk two and captured the other three.
CARRIER, RUELLE, FRANCASTELLE [sic].
Letter of the Committee of Public Safety to Bour-
botte, Francastel, Carrier, and Pinet (ainé),
Representatives at the Army of the West.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 8, p. 78.)
PaRIS.
7th day, 2nd month, year 2
(28th October, 1793).
We forward to you a copy of the resolution by
which Citizens Vauquelin and Jacotot have been
given a commission relative to the exploitation of
saltpetre in the Department of Indre-et-Loire.
This Department is a rich mine of saltpetre,
which it is important to exploit with the greatest
vigour. Let us prepare for the brave defenders of
the Republic all the exterminating powder which
_ is necessary to their valour. Colleagues, you must
break down all obstacles which malevolence or
moderation may oppose to the saltpetre works :
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER oI
everything containing saltpetre must pass into
the boiler: every administrator must co-operate
in this work: everything must give way to the
imperative need of the Republic.
It is sufficient to indicate to you the importance
of the operation confided to Vauquelin and
Jacotot, who merit your entire confidence.
The members of the Committee of Public Safety,
CARNOT, C.-A. PRIEUR.
Letter of Turreau, Francastel, Carrier, and Bour-
botte: dated Angers, to the National Con-
vention.*
(Entire from Le Moniieur, t. 18, p. 355.)
ANGERS.
12 Brumaire (November 2nd, 1793).
You can be quite easy about the execution of
the measures of your resolution.2 By every means
in our power will we second the wisdom of your
dispositions. Our colleague Merlin will have
returned to the Convention long since, but it is
only two days ago that the decree officially
reached him.* Convinced of the benefit his
1 This letter was read to the Convention, or perhaps only
parts of it, by Barrére, being incorporated in one of his many
reports on the Vendée.
2 See p. 80.
* Merlin and Choudieu had been recalled to give the Govern-
ment information on the Vendée troubles. The obscurities of the
following sentences are textual.
92 CORRESPONDENCE OF
presence would be to the Army, we have made
him promise that he will return to you only at the
moment when the decree shall be legally known
to him. Choudieu has also thought, in accordance
with the last law, to follow Merlin. We will
redouble our zeal and activity until Pinet’s
arrival.
Carrier will remain at Nantes; he will there
work revolutionary, and at the same time will
keep watch over that portion of our troops
stationed in (that city). Francastel will occupy
Angers, a point at present intermediate for our
operations. Bourbotte and Turreau will follow
the columns of the Army. |
We will continue to render ourselves worthy of
the national confidence by our activity, and
especially by our energetic wish to save the
Republic. If ever it should happen otherwise,
your duty would be to propose our recall.
Letter of Carrier to Rennes. (Recipient unknown.)
(Entire from Lallié’s, J.-B. Carrier, p. 76.)
Asked to return to Rennes, he replies, the 15th
Brumaire (5th November, 1793): ‘‘I am alone
at Nantes; I cannot go to Rennes. I have just
arrived from Angers.”’
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 93
Letter from Bourbotte to Carrier.
(Entire from Lallie’s, J.-B. Carrier, p. 178. Reference given:
Bibliotheque, Nantes.)
ANGERS.
The 8th day of the second decade of the
second month (8th November, 1793).
I inform you that the two hundred and thirty
thousand livres which Prieur (of Cote d’Or) and
Hentz have proposed to ask of the Committee of
Public Safety for our use in settlement of the
extraordinary expenses relative to our mission
have been paid into the money-chest of the pay-
master-general of the Army some time ago, and
that you can, when you wish, use these funds for
the public utility.
Letter of Prieur (of Marne) to Carrier.
(Entire from Bliard’s Prieur de la Marne, p. 336. Reference
given: Archives Nationales, A.F. 11, 276.)
LORIENT.
20th Brumaire (10th November, 1793).
[He asks Carrier to perform the impossible, to
retake (Noirmoutier).]
“If we can once unite our forces on a single
point we shall stifle the brigands up to their last
man. There must be no more of them alive
fifteen days hence.”’
94 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Marc-Antoine Jullien,: to Pocholle
and Carrier.
(Entire from Edouard Lockroy’s Une Mission en Vendée, p. 66.)
ST. MALO.
21st Brumaire. Year 2 (11 November, 1793).
I hasten, Citizens, to inform you of my arrival at
S. Malo, where your colleague Prieur (of Marne)with
whom I was at Lorient requested me to betake
myself as soon as he knew the road the rebels
were taking. I am authorized by the mission
_ confided to me to take all the necessary measures
’ of utility and public security that circumstances
will show me to be expedient. But these measures
being of value only in so far as they are combined
with yours, and unity of operation alone being
able to ensure their success, I beg you to corre-
spond with me and to send me the plans you
resolve upon so that I can contribute to their
execution. On my side I will send you all the
information I can gather, and I will neglect nothing
to justify the confidence which calls me here in a
moment of crisis. |
I have as yet only very vague notions as to the
progress and designs of the enemy, on their
position, and on that of our troops ; but it seems
1 Son of the Representative Jullien of Dréme, and later
styling himself ‘“‘ Jullien of Paris,’ was at this time barely
nineteen years old.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 95
to me that it will be of the first importance to cover
Dinan, which is in some measure the entrance-door
of the Coasts of the Department of Cotes-du-Nord.
Let us hope that we shall so envelop the rebels
that they will find their tomb here, and especially
let us guard well our forts so that they have no
communication either with England or with the
émigrés of Jersey and Guernsey.
I do not think that S. Malo lacks men, but I am
afraid we shall come to want provisions unless
some are sent to us every day. The spirit of the
people is very good, and courage and hope seem
to grow in proportion to the danger. It is
suspected that the rebels might well have some
intelligence here. I am going to take the most
active steps to discover if this be so; I will
acquaint you with the result of my investigations.
P.S.—Citizen Cadenne has just communicated
to me a plan for surrounding the Catholic Army,
and I think it has several advantages. The
Vendée must be terminated. I beg you to write
to me and send me information in accordance with
which I can direct my conduct.
96 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 8, p. 371.)
ANGERS.
22 Brumaire. Year 2 (12 November, 1793).’
CITIZENS MY COLLEAGUES,
You are acquainted with my burning love
for the triumph of the Republic, my fearless
candour ; I am going to give you a specimen of
this.
When my colleagues Hentz and Prieur (of Céte
d’Or) delegated to me at Nantes, in the name of
the Committee, the mission of installing General
L’Echelle,? they informed me expressly that he
was animated with the best intentions, but also
they acknowledged the insufficiency of his talents.
I went with him to the Army, beset with suspicions
that were raised both against Merlin, the Staff, and
the garrison of Mayence. A council of war was
held on the evening of our arrival. Isaw plenty
of candour in all the generals of the Army: they
discussed the plans of campaign with much
amenity. It was decided to follow those which
were proposed by General Kléber and by Merlin,
1 For the true date of this letter, see note (7), p. 251.
2 Lenétre, in his facetious but somewhat inaccurate book,
Les Noyades de Nantes (translated into English as Episodes of
the French Revolution in Brittany), introduces “‘ the Proconsul ”’
(Carrier) as L’Echelle’s ‘‘ crony.’”’ The evidence does not seem
to warrant this intimacy.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 07
as much to effect the union of the columns of the
Army as to set about attacking Charette at
Saint-Leger. I freely acknowledge to you that I
found in L’Echelle a frank patriotism which
pleased me infinitely, but I perceived in him an
astonishing poverty of means to propose or
conceive a plan of attack.
The next day I went to the camp with him and
my colleagues Turreau and Merlin for his installa-
tion. I harangued all the divisions of the Army
in the most urgent manner, with the object of -
investing L’Echelle with their confidence; my
colleagues seconded me to the best of their
ability. There was one division which demanded
Dubayet ;1 I vehemently opposed this cry on the
moment of hearing it, as did also my colleagues.
Merlin asked for and obtained the incarceration
of an officer who was among the first to utter
that cry.
Subsequently we marched on Tiffauges, Mor-
tagne, and Cholet ; we followed the plans adopted
and took these three important posts. In the
affair of the 15th, between Mortagne and Cholet,
a very heated, violent affair, in that of the 16th to
enter Cholet, every one, officers and soldiers, did
their duty, performed marvels of valour. The
1 Removed from the Army in consequence of the law prevent-
ing ex-nobles to hold the rank of officers; Dubayet was also
““under suspicion.” He was, in fact, very efficient, and seems
to have been beloved by his men. At first under secret arrest in
Nantes, he was ultimately brought to trial and liberated.
H
98 CORRESPONDENCE OF
column of Chatillon came to join us at Cholet in
the evening of the 16th; on the 17th, in the
morning, a second council of war was held to make
the arrangements for the attack on Beaupréau.
Then between Turreau, Merlin, and myself, the
anxieties already suggested to us concerning the
incapacity of L’Echelle were renewed. The
courage of our troops, the good agreement, the
very decided intention manifested in all the
general officers to concert for the speedy exter-
mination of the brigands, calmed our solicitudes.
At 12 o'clock on the 17th we were attacked
by the rebels. Fortunately the alarm had been
sounded in the early morning ; fortunately every
officer was at his post; fortunately the People’s
Representatives had scoured the streets and
houses of Cholet to keep back the soldiers from
pillage. All these precautions and the valour of
our vanguard, composed almost entirely of. the
Mayence division, secured to us the most complete
and bloody victory that has yet been won over
the brigands ; for the field of battle and the land
near three different roads for a distance of five
leagues was covered with the slain. But also, as it
does not seem you have heard, at this affair of the
17th there was a rout of more than four thousand
men, which Merlin and I made vain efforts to
check. It was so unexpected that, wishing to
stem the torrent, I almost perished and lost my
horse. Turreau then returned to the second line
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 99
and Merlin and I could not rally those in flight at
less than a league beyond Cholet on the Mortagne
road. Merlin put himself at the head of three
thousand men who had rallied, and these he led
in good order to the fight, while I made my way to
the fields to check the flight of a whole column.
The necessary task of the return to Beaupréau
in support of the first division, which had captured
it in the night of the 17-18th; the difficulty of
inflicting a punishment owing to the considerable
number of fugitives, have made us lose sight of
repressive measures. |
On the 18th,' the body of the Army made a late
appearance at Beaupréau. This sloth, justly
reproached, prevented the march to S. Florent
on the same day. In the evening, complaints
against L’Echelle were heard, to the effect that he
had not arranged the camping positions. At night
the march on Beaupréau was discussed.
The next day the People’s Representatives to
the number of seven assembled. We acknow-
ledged the good principles of L’Echelle, but,
convinced of his lack of capacity for the chief
generalship, agreed that he should be asked to
appoint a good staff.
A crowd of prisoners arrived during the night
and at dawn informed us that terror and
consternation had spread so much in the brigand
1 So far the dates of this letter have been given in “ old
style,’ they therefore refer to 15th-—18th October.
100 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Army by reason of the two defects they had just
suffered, and from the loss of almost all their
leaders, that they had fled in disorder from
S. Florent and had crossed the Loire.
There was no further talk of appointing a staff ;
the one thought was to take advantage of the
brigands’ retreat, to complete the extermination
of those we should find in S. Florent, and to come
to as close quarters as possible with those in flight.
We hastened the march towards S. Florent, when
suddenly there came the countermand that the
body of the Army was to go towards Nantes. The
column commanded by General Beaupuy alone
had the order to go to S. Florent.
As this order called me to Nantes, I went there
with General Westermann. Since the mission
delegated to me by Hentz and Prieur was accom-
plished, I began my revolutionary tactics in
Nantes. Two days after my arrival the Army
reached the town; no one felt and deplored
more than myself the dangers of that arrival ;
every one redoubled the efforts to diminish them ;
we took care not to allow any prolonged stay.
We made the troops pitch their camps before
coming in and immediately on leaving.
Soon they marched towards Oudon and
Ancenis. I went there and found my brave
brothers-in-arms wearied out, in want of food and
marching barefoot. I sent for the War Com-
missioners, who had charge of the commissariat,
_ JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER ror
and rained down on them a storm of violent
reproaches, blows, and discharges.t I returned
at once to Nantes, requisitioned all the shoes,
leather, and shoemakers, assigned them a work-
shop, and in them, since that time, five hundred
pairs of very good quality are made daily. The
next day I laid all the shoes of the citizens under
requisition and sent off a waggon-load to the
army: it was captured by the brigands in the
last repulse we had near Laval.
I followed up the plan of my operations at
Nantes ; already I had created and set in activity
a Revolutionary Tribune, a Military Commission,
a Commission for Examining Refugees, a Revolu-
tionary Company,” for the arrest of conspirators,
and for the prevention of monopolies; the
guillotine was permanently set up when I learnt
vaguely of the two repulses we had suffered near
1 id est, dismissals.
2 All this is boasting. These Commissions and Institutions,
including the far-famed Company Marat, were the work of
Gillet and his colleagues previous to Carrier’s official residence,
as the dates and terms of appointments well show. When the
details were complete Gillet was replaced by Carrier, whose part
it was merely to sign the papers of appointment. Gillet was
wholly responsible for the members of the Revolutionary Com-
mittee of Nantes and the Company Marat, though the Convention
as well as posterity has credited his better-known colleague
with the matter. Carrier’s defence in Convention that he knew
nothing of these men whom his colleague had nominated was
derided, but there exists in the National Archives a paper (Rev.
Trib.) in which Gillet states clearly that HE HAS CHOSEN THE
REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE AS WELL AS THE CoMPANY. For
details on the method of choice, etc., see note (8), p. 253.
102 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Laval. I went at once to the Army,’ which I found
at Angers. I gathered all possible information
from my colleagues, from officers and from
soldiers ; everything assured me of the exactitude
of the facts of which you were aware through my
colleagues. Returned to Nantes, in accordance
with the plan of which we had informed you, I
have kept a steady watchfulness to see that the
Army should want for nothing; already I have
sent three thousand pairs of shoes; this evening
I shall send more. I am keeping up a detailed
correspondence with my colleagues attached to the
Army of the West and with those at Brest.
My revolutionary operations are in full swing ;
there are arrests every day; the guillotine is
‘permanent; miscreants suffer capital punish-
ment; monopolists are discovered; these are
their results.
Don’t let the expenses caused by the Com-
missions I have established give you any anxiety ;
a fine day will come when they will be returned to
the national treasury at the expense of the egotist
rich of Nantes.
Meanwhile I must repeat the declaration I have
already made to you ; you must hear the truth ;
you must take advantage of the reliable informa-
tion truth presents to you. It comes from lips
never stained by the tainted language of impos-
ture; from a heart that has known nothing but
1 November Ist, 1793.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 103
austere, brutal, sincerity. Individuals are nothing
to me, my beloved Republic is the lasting object
of my care, my thoughts, my labours.
I have seen and closely examined the spirit,
principles, and courage of the columns united at
Cholet; from every source I have gathered
reliable information on all those destined for the
Vendean War. I found in the Saumur column a
crowd of robbers and cowards, who furnished
every kind of communication to the brigands of
the Vendée to such a degree that when the latter
were in any need they said “let us march on
Saumur and we shall get what we want.” It is
this column which has furnished them with cannon
and saltpetre for the manufacture of powder ;
there are few patriots and few brave men among
them. It was in their power to compromise the
patriotism and valour of the commanders had not
these been universally known.
The Lucon column is composed of some good
battalions, but there are some who do not hear
the battle sound without alarm.
There are brave soldiers in the Chatillon column,
but how many are cowards also! General Chalbos
is a brave patriot ; he has military talent, but I
find in him a prudence that is too sluggish for the
Vendean War.
Generals Robert, Marceau, Cannel, Muller, are
ardent Revolutionists, pronounced and principled
Republicans, courageous, talented soldiers. What
104 CORRESPONDENCE OF ,
a pity it is that these Children of the Revolution
should not have a thorough knowledge of military
tactics and plans of campaign !
The brave Rossignol can be numbered with
these ; he can carry out movements very well in a
given plan of attack or defence, but it must be
acknowledged that he has no talent of initiative.
So I do not know what is being done at Rennes
with the considerable forces that are there; I see
neither plan, nor arrangement, nor preparation
for the hindrance,! much less for the attack of the
enemy ; all that I do see is that a detachment of
heroes, the 19th Regiment from Caen, has been
led out to be butchered. A certain Briére, who,
through lack of courage, has not been delivered
over to the Revolutionary Sword, led these eight
hundred braves to the commune of Ernée to face
at least fifteen hundred brigands. These new
Spartans, consulting their courage only, fought
like heroes and made a great number of brigands
bite the dust. But of what avail their bravery
against so large a band? Six hundred fell on that
honourable field, the remaining two hundred made
a way for themselves through the enemy, the
bayonet at the end of their guns. I weep tears of
blood over this loss ; so much more disturbing to
my heart from the fact that I knew the battalion.
And the Mayence garrison ? I knew that too ;
: The brigand Army was marching north—to meet its fate at
Granville,
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 105
those who slander it are great scoundrels and
conspirators. To it we owe our success in the
Vendée, for they expelled the brigands. I have
seen and examined every detail of the affairs of the
15-17th October (O.S.), and I will affirm, as will
also the whole Army, to France itself, that our
success is due to them. . Had it not been for them
the safety of France would have been compromised
on the 17th, for they alone resisted, repulsed, and
defeated the enemy.
Daring insinuations have been made that the
principles of this garrison are not those of the rest
of the Army. Shame! And I assure you that
they profess the most pronounced and burning
Republicanism. Have I not had a thousand
convincing instances of this? I did not see a
single officer nor soldier who was not horrified, ~
who did not instantly slay any captured brigands
who cried VIVE-LE-RE!!_ And who has done more
than they have to clear the Vendée of these
brigands ? Who has done more than they have to
burn their habitations? If they are not all
already the property of the flames it is because
our march has been so rapid ; let anyone follow
the roads this garrison has taken and he will see if
anything but ruin be found !?
_ I have not had time to make an examination of
1 The “ patois ’’ of the Vendée district.
* A fitting conclusion to this passionate defence of the Mayence
garrison, the Convention having decreed this wholesale burning.
106 CORRESPONDENCE OF
the principles of the subordinate officers, but I can
state that I have seen them fight valiantly with
cries of VIVE-LA-REPUBLIQUE! They and the
soldiers have a particularly high esteem, a par-
ticularly deep respect, for the Convention. What
a power she wields in our armies, inspired as they
are by the sentiment of love for liberty.
Among the Generals I have seen and known
intimately are Kléber, Vimeux, Haxo, Beaupuy,
Blosse, and Marigny. |
Kléber is the son of a Strasbourg peasant. In
battle he shows unequalled coolness and courage.
He is the General who has the greatest military
knowledge in the Army of the West, of Brest, and
perhaps of all the Republican Armies. Plans of
campaign, arrangement of an army, order of
march, he knows everything perfectly. He has
the frankness, the speech, the habits, the sans-
culottism of a true Republican ; the only defect
that I can see in him is that he is a little too
severe on fighting days.
Vimeux is an old soldier who deserves the
greatest esteem, an excellent patriot, without
Kléber’s knowledge. At present he is with me in
command of the troops of the Lower-Loire ; he
does nothing without consulting me. This brave
soldier possesses and merits the greatest respect.
Haxo, a former commandant, has the coolness
and bravery of Kléber without his military know-
ledge. He is in charge of the expedition to
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER _107
Noirmoutier ; no soldier could organize it better
than he has done. He neglected no precautions
that could_ensure success; he assembled all the
naval officers, all those of any genius, all patriots
who had taken refuge in Noirmoutier whom we
had made known to him, to combine their attack.
He thought that our growing naval forces near
the island were insufficient ; we agreed to send
sloops of war from Nantes, and in addition we
summoned from Lorient two gunboats and a
coasting-vessel armed with two guns of twelve.
These united forces are to attack Noirmoutier ;
they will land, and at the same time our Army will
make the real attack from the mainland. Genera
Dutruy has just come from Les Sables; he is
to take part in the expedition. General Robert is
almost recovered ; both are delighted with the
arrangements for the attack. Adjutant-General
Guillaume should lead the troops from Niort to
the heights of the Forest of Princé, those from
Cholet should make for another prearranged point
in the same forest ; this day, this 22nd Brumaire,
we are expecting the approach of the columns to
effect the union immediately, after having swept
this forest haunted by the brigands. Meanwhile
we are revictualling the troops, and I have the
happiest hopes.
Unfortunately Beaupuy is a ci-devant; but
what a good and brave General! He has always
led the vanguard. I was by his side practically
108 CORRESPONDENCE OF
the whole time during the affairs of the 15th and
17th. How bravely he fought! With what skill
he roused his division to the fight! It is princi-
pally to him that the success of those two desperate
fights is due. On the 15th the brigands occupied
a lofty and very advantageous position. From
this height they thundered on our columns.
Beaupuy, taking a cross-country direction which
brought him with his division to the height,
attacked the enemy on the flank with a terrible
running fire, came down on them in double-quick
time, bayonet in the reins, took four pieces of
cannon, turned them against the enemy, produced
and hastened their rout. At the affair of the 17th
he carried out almost the same manceuvre and led
us to the same result. Before Laval he attacked
and resisted with a like bravery the first onrush of
the brigands, always impetuous and violent ; he
was wounded at his post, and when his division,
forming the vanguard, finding it impossible to
withstand the descent of the brigand horde,
asked for help from the reinforcing columns, he put
his hat on his uplifted sword and shouted: “ Let
every Republican rally to the sign of Liberty ;1
here let him fight and die for her!’’ And then,
showing his blood-stained shirt, “Let that be
shown,” he said, ‘‘ to those columns that refuse
to fight!’’ I saw this brave soldier bedridden,
1 This Republican General was no doubt wearing the bonnet-
vouge.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 109
struggling with death. To-day I learn that he
may be spared to the Republic. Service for her
may be denied him on account of that ineffaceable
stain,’ but I do not think it could be given toa
more loyal citizen than he is, nor to one who
proclaims more openly true Republican principles.
Marigny is the bravest b——? you could meet
-anywhere. In every action he has fought in the
midst of the brigands, laying about him with his
sword to left and right. Commandant vo ¢em in
Nantes, he did his work with unexampled inflexi-
bility and method ; he led the Nantais with a lash.
I have never seen a soldier act more in accordance
with revolutionary principles against moderates
and counter-revolutionists. Speaking seldom,
always on duty, he executed orders punctually and
precisely. His principles, they say, are none too
secure. I have watched him in countless ways and
have never found occasion of fault in him—rather
intelligence in military affairs, unwearied activity,
indescribable valour, and a purpose (to which he
has always adhered) of not making a single
brigand prisoner.
Mouviou, present Chief of Staff of the Army of
the West, has many friends, but in my eyes he has
always seemed suspect. To-day reliable informa-
1 His noble birth.
2 It is interesting to note Carrier’s change of language to suit
the social status of the individual under consideration. The
out-and-out democrat of these times always alluded to himself
and his friends by this name.
IIo CORRESPONDENCE OF
tion has confirmed my suspicions. Brave Robert
should in any case have taken his place, but that
he is still sick with a wound and has been
summoned to a similar position in the Army at
Brest. Mouviou is recommended by Turreau and
Bourbotte.
Vergues, sometime brigadier-major to Canclaux,
never deceived me; I accused him to my colleagues
at Rennes as a counter-revolutionist : I learn he
has been dismissed and arrested.
L’Echelle had no military talent, but what a
fine Republican he was! What an excellent
sans-culotte! He has just given great proof of
this, having died of the grief caused by our two
reverses near Laval. He came to Nantes either |
the 18th or 19th Brumaire, wishing to see me
before he died. When I approached his bed he
wept, and said in a dying whisper: ‘‘ Why did you
leave the Army? Why did you desert me? ”’
He died the next day. Let no one cast a slur on
the memory of this brave patriot. If he did not
more effectively direct the movements of the
Army before Laval, let that be attributed to his
lack of military skill, never to any fault of heart.
He died for his country; grief at these two
defeats brought him to his tomb.!
1 Lendtre waxes facetious over Carrier’s account of L’Echelle’s
death-bed, which he puts down to pompous boasting. Having
read many letters of the Representatives concerning the unfortu-
nate General, I think the actual relations between Carrier and
L’Echelle warrants the following explanation. L’Echelle came
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER III
I have already expressed my opinion upon my
colleague Merlin; his open and Republican
conduct during our work together in the Vendée
gave me even greater grounds for persisting in
what I said. What a fine grenadier he is! How
well he knows the way to inspire bravery, both by
word and act! It is infamous that the shadow of
suspicion should fall upon him or that doubts
should be thrown upon his Republican principles.
One of the causes leading most immediately to
these defeats has been the halt of the Army at
Nantes. How could anyone fail to see that
appalling disorganization would result when an
army, wearied out and loaded with spoil, halted in
this new Capua, hot-bed of corruption and
aristocracy ? Had I been told of this proposed
halt I would have opposed it by every means in
my power: I only knew of it when the troops
passed the house where I am staying: further, by
taking this road instead of crossing the Loire from
S. Florent to Ancenis, as Merlin did with his two
hundred, they made a circuit of twenty leagues,
to Nantes worn out with exposure (he had contracted a lung
complaint), but especially with humiliation, knowing as he must
have done the contempt in which the Representatives held him,
and their witticisms at his expense with which they were favour-
ing the Government. Carrier, however, seemed to recognize in
the General-in-Chief’s incapacity a misfortune rather than a
crime, and the General himself felt, perhaps not for the first time,
this friendly sympathy. ‘‘ Why did you leave the Army? Why
did you desert me ?’”’ etc. He was supposed by many to have
poisoned himself, through grief.
112 CORRESPONDENCE OF
giving the enemy time to reassemble, obtain new
stores, and forget their defeats ; and to our own
men time to forget their victories and the con-
sternation of the brigands.
As they fled it is said that the soldiers shouted
“Vive Dubayet!’”’ And another story is that they
said, ‘Oh! where is Dubayet ?”” Whatever the
cry may have been it was caused by suggestions
made during the halt at Nantes. I am certain
that the soldiers were made to believe that
Dubayet was in Nantes, and ought to have come
into active service again; the proof that it was
this infamous community that revealed the secret
is that from the 14th to the 21st October there
was no mention of that name in the Army.
Thanks to the care of the People’s Representa-
tives the aspect of things has changed. We have
taken decisive steps to ensure that the sparse
remains of the Army of the West leave Nantes ;
we have made unheard-of efforts to secure them
clothing, pure air, and equipment. Our success
has exceeded our hopes, and a few days’ rest has
given our soldiers some of their original energy.
They are making forced marches towards the
enemy, who is at Fougéres according to the latest
information, and I have just had a letter from
Rennes saying that the Army of the West, twenty
thousand strong, is at Vitré at the moment of
writing, and that six thousand of the troops at
Rennes are to join it. These plans inspire
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 113
flattering hopes. How I long for good news! I
cannot too highly praise the indefatiguable
industry of my colleagues Prieur (of Marne),
Gillet, and Garnier (of Saintes). The first two,
acting with me, having summoned very good
troops from Cétes-du-Nord, Finistére, and Mor-
bihan, and by an infinitely wise measure have
reinforced the garrison of Chateauneuf, a most
important fortress, with the object of preventing
the brigands from taking Clos-Porcelet, from
which it would have been difficult to expel them.
- What a brave beggar Garnier is! In the
Department of La Manche he raised forces beyond
all expectation, and he is returning to the charge.
On my part I have written to Brest, to S. Malo,
and to Cherbourg, giving orders that all available
boats are to cruise along the coasts so that the
brigands will be unable to embark. The beggars
will have to be very crafty to escape us, and if
they are not presently exterminated, will cause us
much anxiety.
Whoever can be this General Aularien who fled
with six thousand men from Nort to Chateau-
briant and from there to Rennes without stopping,
and never saw the enemy? Tonnerre des lois!
I cannot but be furious as I write (as I must) to
my colleagues at Rennes for his immediate dis-
missal and deliverance to the Revolutionary
Sword !
Brave Colleagues, the Revolution marches with -
I
114 CORRESPONDENCE OF
giant strides: prejudice and fanaticism crumbles
beneath the irresistible force of right ; the torch
of philosophy brightens everything and consumes
her enemies ; the Convention enjoys the greatest
confidence ; circumstances look well for us, the
wind of Revolution blows strong. Now is the
appointed time ; the French people have delivered
into your hands the thunderbolt of vengeance ;
let it roar ; shatter it in lightning upon counter-
revolutionary heads ; be terrible as it is when in
anger! Despotism must make liberty’s founda-
tions sure. Her earliest benefits and the trials
she has undergone when in her cradle, can only be
appreciated by patriots. The Republican rod
must descend pitilessly on those who disdain to
bend their haughty heads beneath equality’s yoke.
Strike, and strike hardily; track to earth every
prejudiced person; the time has come. The
vicissitudes of a Revolution are only too great ;
large measures have saved Liberty ; they will give
her firm and lasting support. With these principles
engraven on my heart, I practise them with that
_Republican steadfastness which only sees the
image of a shattered Fatherland and strives boldly
to piece it together again. I have every suspect
arrested and disarmed; the greatest and most
1 It will be obvious to the discerning reader that Carrier has
grown very tired of this letter by this time; his revolutionary
platitudes, though fierce, have an insincere ring about them ;
one can almost hear him yawning as he dictates them to his
secretary.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 115
wealthy of them are in the cells. I have further
measures to mature of which I shall inform you ;!
you shall judge if they be revolutionary! I pro-
mise not to leave a single counter-revolutionist,
not one monopolist, at large in Nantes in a few
days’ time, and this in spite of the swarms of them
in the commune.
Greeting, fraternity,
CARRIER.
Letter from a Townsman of Nantes to Carrer.
(Entire from Guépin, Histoire de Nantes, 1839, p. 456-458.)
NANTES. About the 27th Brumaire, Y ear 2
(17th November, 1793).
To the Citizen Carrier, People’s Representative.
CITIZEN REPRESENTATIVE,
You have asked me to give you an account
of the meeting of the 27th Brumaire ;? I am
sending it to you. It is worthy of the pure
patriotism which animates a true sans-culotte.
‘‘ ACCOUNT RENDERED OF THE SITTING OF THE
27TH BRUMAIRE, YEAR 2 OF THE REPUBLIc.”’
The Society of Vincent-la-Montagne required
premises worthy of its meetings and large enough
to hold all its members.
1 The famous orders concerning middlemen, brokers, and
stock-jobbers. See the following letters.
2 This meeting took place upon the 26th Brumaire, and not
upon the 27th. Incorrect dates are common about this time, the
new calendar not being as yet very familiar.
116 CORRESPONDENCE OF
The Citizen Carrier, People’s Representative,
hastened to propose the Church Sainte-Croix :
immediately a message was sent to the citizens of
the District (Council), to-day purged by the care
of Representatives Meaule and Philippeaux from
the individuals called Bougon, Athenas, Clavier,
and others suspected of federalism and attach-
ment to the Gironde.
The hour having arrived, the cortége left the
Commune.! The members of the District, the
Municipality, and the other authorities assembled
opposite the former Church Saint-Vincent, to-day
the Patriotic and Popular Society. The members
of this meeting and all the pure Montagnards of
our city, take their appointed place in the cortége
which the Representative Carrier leads.
The insignias of the Republic are borne in front
of the procession, and it is considered an honour to
carry them ; the band plays Republican airs, and
every one is animated with the greatest enthusiasm
and the purest civism.
Arrived at the former Church Sainte-Croix,
Citizen Carrier mounts the pulpit so often profaned
by the impure and false words of sacerdotalism
and the priests. ‘‘ Citizen Montagnards,’”’ he
exclaims in accents of that noble passion for virtue
with which he is animated, ‘ this day will serve,
if need be, to further disperse the rank mists of the
despotism of the priests and kings. But morality
1 That is, the Maison Commune.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 117
is avenged, and the philosophic people! laugh at
the juggling of the one and the former usurpations
of the others. Citizens, the throne of the tyrant
is no more, and that flock of imbeciles led by
the calotte is being replaced by the patriotic
assemblies ! ”’
At this point the Representative of the People
is interrupted by loud applause. Carrier then
continues to expound the errors, superstition,
ancient and new crimes of the priests and the
priesthood : then he concludes thus :
“Ts it your fault, Sans-culoties, is it your fault,
Montagnards, that the fire of civil war has been
kindled ? Is it your fault that the Vendée has
been covered with corpses ? Is it your fault that
those unhappy beings, embued with prejudices,
have been inveighed to wound their country ?
Blood is flowing, but it must flow! Let the
Pantheon be opened to receive the ashes of the
Lepelletiers and the Marats ; let their shades be
honoured ; let their patriotism find imitators ;
but the Fatherland is just, and it is right for the
sword of the law to await aristocrats and priests.
It is right for it to await those who fan the flame of
civil war, those who are responsible for the tears
of the widow and the orphan.”
This eloquent peroration is greeted with con-
tinued applause, and Citizen Carrier descends
from the tribune in the midst of bravoes and
1 So called because the reign of “‘ philosophy ’’ had begun.
118 CORRESPONDENCE OF
congratulations. Then Bishop Minée speaks and
pronounces an energetic discourse in which, in his
turn, he briefly retraces the sacrilegious impiety of
the so-called worshippers of the Divinity, and of
those who are responsible for the progress of
atheism by their faults of every kind. He is
frequently applauded. The following phrases,
which we record almost textually, produced much
effect: “The Republic, Citizens, this august
Republic which we venerate and under whose
protecting laws a Frenchman should be proud to
live, is the union and exercise of every virtue.
What man is there who would not prefer the
priceless advantages of the regime of good morals
to the destructive scourges of egotism and pride,
vile satellites of aristocracy of every species ?
The only difference between men should hence-
forward be the single difference between vice and
virtue, error and truth ; malevolence is doing its
very best but it will succumb to the efforts of
patriotism.” Finally, Bishop Minée concluded by
abjuring his priestly title, and his so-called
ineffaceable character of priest, then several curés
of the districts round Nantes mounted into the
tribune after him for the same purpose. This
sitting, which our town considers it an honour to
have held, and whose whole interest I cannot
enlarge upon at this place, left a deep impression in
the minds of the spectators. Everybody could
perceive the superiority of the brave Montagnards
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 119g
to all others, by reason of their energy, their
hatred of despotism, and their love for public
liberty, and if there were present at the meeting
any fair-weather’ patriot, any of those timid souls
who only know how to give an opinion after the
event, they would have learnt that it is not by
protecting the brigands of the Vendée and the
hired assassins of the despotism of the priests and
nobles, that repose can be assured to the country,
or the triumph of the sovereignty of the people
over tyrants and their accomplices be effected.?
Letter of Carrier to the Convention.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 8, p. 505.)
(The original of this letter was destroyed. The Convention
published the following Analysis.—E. H. C.)
NANTES. 27th Brumaire
(17th November, 1793).
All the Constituted Authorities have been
reorganized ; the Club,* which was the people’s
in no sense of the word, has been dissolved ;
clandestine conventicles, called ‘‘ Chambres
Littéraires,’’ have been dispersed. Federalists,
pamphleteers, royalists, are in the hands of the
1 “* Patriote a l’eau rose.”
* This account of the speeches is a very meagre one. For a
fuller résumé see Lallié: J.-B Carrier, p. 82.
* The Popular Society known as Les Halles.
120 CORRESPONDENCE OF
national justice—with the monopolists.!_ Revolu-
tionary Committees exercise an active vigilance
and prompt justice against all enemies of the
Republic. |
The apostle of Reason,? enlightening, electri-
fying every heart, raises men to the level of the
Revolution ; prejudices, superstition, fanaticism,
fade before Philosophy’s torch. Minée, sometime
Bishop, now. President of the Department,
attacked in an eloquent speech the errors and
crimes of the priesthood, and has resigned the
priestly vocation ; five priests have followed his
example and have paid the same homage to
Reason. |
An occurrence of another kind seems to have
decided for the further decrease in the number of
priests ; ninety of those whom we term refractory
were placed in a ship on the Loire. I have just
learnt—the truth of the report is undoubted—
that they all perished in the river.’
1 Who would to-day be called “ profiteers.”’
2 It must be kept in mind that ‘“ Reason ”’ was the latest
deity recognized by the Revolution. The apostle of this goddess
is obviously Philosophy.
8 For purposes of sanitation the priests had been in their
floating prison for some little time. Carrier spent the night of
this first ‘‘ noyade ”’ illin bed, with Doctor Thomas in attendance.
JEAN-BA PTISTE CARRIER 121
Letter of Carrier: to the Convention.
(Entire from Duchatellier, La Révolution en Bretagne,
t. 4, p. 28.)
All the Constituted Authorities have been
reorganized at Nantes; an anti-popular Society
has been dissolved. Clandestine conventicles,
called ‘“‘ Chambres Littéraires,”’ have been dis-
persed. Federalists, feuillants, royalists, monopo-
lists of all kinds, are under the hand of the national
justice. Revolutionary Committees exercise an
active vigilance and prompt justice against all
enemies of the Republic. The apostle of Reason,
enlightening all minds, raises men to the level of
the Revolution. Prejudice, superstition, fanatic-
ism, fade before Philosophy’s torch. Yesterday,
the 26th Brumaire, the Vincent-La-Montagne
Society established its sittings in larger premises
than those it had formerly occupied. All the
Administrative Bodies, an immense crowd of
citizens and a large part of the garrison, assisted
at the inauguration which took place amid cries
1 Though Aulard declares that only the Moniteur and Bulletin
copy of this letter is known, Duchatellier gives a variant in his
La Révolution en Bretagne. On some points it is fuller than the
Convention copy, other phrases it lacks; but it still bears the
stamp of an “‘ Analysis.’’ This is doubly unfortunate inasmuch
as these curt analyses give a brutality to Carrier’s narration of a
certain celebrated episode which may not have been altogether
intentional. The personalities, which the Recuezl copy lacks, are
in Carrier’s well-known style. Duchatellier gives no reference
for this letter, however.
122 CORRESPONDENCE OF
of joy and the thousand-time repeated “‘ Long life
to the Republic! Long life to the Mountain!”
Military music contributed not a little to render
the féte interesting. I opened the Sitting by a
discourse on fanaticism! and superstition, and
there and then Citizen Minée, sometime Bishop,
now President of the Department, in a discourse
full of philosophy attacked the errors and crimes
of the priesthood and has resigned the priestly
vocation ; five priests followed him to the tribune
and paid the same homage to Reason.
An occurrence of another kind seems to have
decided for the further decrease in the number of
the priests. Ninety of those whom we term
refractory were placed in a ship on the Loire.
I have just learnt—the truth of the report is
undoubted—that they all perished in the river.
What a frightful catastrophe ! |
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of- Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 8, p. 563.)
NANTES. 209th Brumaire, Year 2?
(19th November, 1793).
DEAR COLLEAGUES,
At the moment when your resolution of the
13th Brumaire arrived, I had fulfilled all its
1 For the details of this discourse see Lallié’s J.-B. Carrier,
p. 82.
2 Aulard’s note—‘‘ Date covered with a blot.”’ (Has Aulard
made a mistake in the date he gives ? This letter is singularly
like the analysis of Carrier’sletter of 29th November, q.v.—E. H.C.)
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 123
provisions. Every measure which can prevent
the entrance of the brigands into the Vendée has
been taken. My colleagues Prieur (of Marne) and
Bourbotte inform me that after the action which
took place near Dol, the brigands immediately
evacuated Pontorson, Dol, and Antrain; that
they went from Fougéres to Ernée and Laval :
that in need of everything, particularly muni-
tions, they have made up their minds to return
to the Vendée at all hazards. They cannot say —
whether it will be by Angers, Saumur, Tours, or
Nantes that these scoundrels will attempt the
passage.
I at once warned the outposts on both banks to
be on the look-out. I sent the same message to
the marines who are in command of the armed
boats on the left bank. Yesterday I sent three
intelligent sailors who are excellent patriots to
sink all the boats they could find, so that none but
our armed ones shall be afloat; the inhabitants
of the islands! have decided to come over to the
mainland ; their boats, if they have any, will be
destroyed.
The Noirmoutier expedition had a happy
beginning ; already the column of General Haxo,
who is in command, has had several skirmishes
with the brigands, whom he has in every case
repulsed and beaten ; the column from Les Sables
under General Dutruy routed them near Dollans ;
1 River islands.
124 CORRESPONDENCE OF
the two columns united at Machecoul ; the Forest
of Princé was searched and many brigands found
and killed there. These two columns were to have
gone to Noirmoutier, but I thought it wise to tell
General Haxo to remain at Machecoul until
further orders so that in case the enemy directed
its march on Nantes he may do likewise, and let
the brigands bear the fire of his column joined to
the Nantes garrison, which is so much weakened,
and that of the Armies of the Coasts, Brest, and
the West. This union of forces may at last dig
its grave.
Certain columns of the assembled armies are
already in pursuit of the rebels; they will watch
their movements closely and my colleagues will
keep up correspondence with me. I have already
sent scouts and spies on all the roads leading to
Nantes so that I cannot fail to know the move-
ments of the enemy. If he should go to Angers I
shall at once send word to Haxo to continue his
operations at Noirmoutier ; if circumstances are
such that we must make the attempt, I regard
success as certain; the attack by sea is well
planned. Passage of the Loire by Ancenis seems
to be impossible ; my only fear is lest it should
take place by Les Ponts de Cé, near Angers ;
General Chalbos will shortly be sent there.
Horses, carriages, workmen, have been requi-
sitioned long ago for the transport to Nantes of all
provisions which may be found in the rebel
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 125
districts; this transport has been continuous ;
with these provisions we have supplied Nantes and
the Army up to this date. The Army has not
received a very great quantity, by the way; if
the Noirmoutier expedition should continue the
provisioning will be greater.
Your resolution demands the present state of
Nantes with regard to provisions. It is from hand
to mouth. By the same resolution you give me
the duty of provisioning the communes by
requisition ; have you considered the perfidy of
such a decree which the Commission (of Subsist-
ences) has surprised from you in the midst of the
duties that overwhelm you? How could you
fail to see that this would indicate one of their
Representatives as the author of their misery in
the eyes of the people, if, in spite of his efforts,
they ever came to feel its ill-effects ?
Further, I would draw your attention to the
fact that one Representative cannot look after
this and the crowds of other extremely important
matters under his care. And then, what is the
work and business of the Commission ? A matter
manifestly in its province is delegated to me.
Provisions taken in the insurgent districts are
deposited in Nantes in a public storehouse, but
our need of them causes their instant disappear-
ance. We have not as yet found any arms.
The advice to burn mills and bakehouses is
superfluous. We have already burnt buildings of
126 CORRESPONDENCE OF
every kind in the revolting districts; these
measures are still in operation, but General Haxo
has recently informed me that he could not burn
the Forest of Machecoul in spite of all his
endeavours.?
As soon as possible I will send you details of the
requisitions that my colleagues and I have been
able to levy for food supplies, as you request ; but
since I do not possess my colleagues’ list of
requisitions the work is necessarily slow.
I send you the list of the merchants of Nantes
for which you asked.
I announced the counter-revolutionary troubles
which broke out in Morbihan at the time the news
1 It was established at Carrier’s trial that the buildings in
question were ovens and windmills, those signals for rally and
scout work (Bouchez et Roux, t. 34, p. 194). The thorough
devastation of the Vendée did not take place until after the
march of General Turreau’s ‘“‘ Infernal Columns ”’ the following
January, and more especially the second “‘ Military Parade ”’ of
this General and his lieutenants, organized by the Representatives
Hentz, Francastel, Prieur (Marne), and Garrau, two months
later. The new columns, five in number, were entrusted to
Generals Turreau, Cordelier, Cambrai, Grignon, and Dutruy ;
they continued the savage exploits of the original twelve, carrying
everywhere pillage and death, striking indiscriminately royalist
and republican. Towns, boroughs, villages, disappeared, and
the sword finished what the fire spared. On April 30th, 1794,
Francastel could write to the Committee of Public Safety as
follows: “‘ It is no longer a war that is made in this country, only
a hunting of brigands. You can be assured that the Vendée is a
desert, and that it does not contain twelve thousand living persons.
For a long time we have been travelling about this country in a
caravan ”’ (Savary, Guerres, t. 3, p. 425, and Recueil at this date).
2 We learn the reason elsewhere : the woods were too green.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 127
thereof reached me; I sent special messengers to
Lorient, Saint-Brieuc, and the patriotic communes
of Morbihan to urge a levée en masse so that the
brigands might be overwhelmed and crushed.
I gave orders everywhere.to. . .'
(Aulard’s note.—‘ The last page has been torn off.”’)
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 8, p. 598.)
NANTES. Ist Frimaire, Year 2
(21st November, 1793).
CITIZEN COLLEAGUES,
At length Reason triumphs and prejudice
disappears. The last decade of Brumaire was
celebrated at Nantes with that touching simplicity
and stirring enthusiasm inspired by a love of
liberty.
Veterans carrying fasces of pikes, headed the
procession; then came the Declaration of the
Rights of Man, borne aloft by sans-culottes and
followed by bands playing military and national
music ; several women holding horns of plenty,
surrounded by children, who seemed to receive
their gifts, offered a simple and touching sight.
In a plough was seated an old man carrying a
sheaf of corn, while small sans-culottes beside him
trod under foot all those bonds of antique lies,
1 See p. 135. Carrier is referring to a requisition of shoes.
128 CORRESPONDENCE OF
titles of nobility, fanaticism, and aristocracy ;
other children carried agricultural implements
round the plough. The old man held in his hand
the end of a long tri-coloured ribbon which
entwined the Presidents of all the Administrations
and the Vincent-la-Montagne Club ; the consul of
an allied people, our Anglo-American brothers,
held the other end of the streamer; this symbol
of union followed and surrounded the plough.
Marat’s bust, carried by a country Municipal
Council, accompanied by the people, marching
promiscuously, followed immediately after. Le
Pelletier’s bust was carried in the same fashion.'
One group, representing the destruction of
fanaticism, came next; sans-culoties carried
bishops, madonnas, saints of every shade, upside-
down ;? citizens bore torches to show the patriots
the fire which should consume them.
Members of one of the Administrations marched,
without any distinction of rank, arm-in-arm with
a sans-culotte officer and soldier.
Here and there the procession was diversified
by little groups of saints turned upside down and
surrounded by drums. Then came the people.
The sans-culoties surrounded the Column of Liberty
on the arrival there, and sung the Hymn® to the
1 Le Pelletier was murdered the previous January by a
partizan of royalty, hence his bust was an eminently Republican
emblem.
2 These objects may have been paper imitations, or the actual
spoil from the churches. - % The Marseillaise.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 129
tune of the national music. On the public square
of the Department a stake had been prepared, and
the old man descending from his plough, sur-
rounded by little children, lit this new auto-da-fé,
which received saints, bishops, madonnas, and all
the paper-rubbish of the ancient regime which the
sans-culottes vied with one another in throwing in.
As the fire was devouring the last remains of
tyranny, the people gathered round a mountain
which was raised opposite the stake. Here all
revolutionary emblems used in the féte were
displayed ; especially did the people stedfastly
regard the assassination of Marat on one side of
the Mountain and that of Le Pelletier on the
other. Speeches in memory of Marat were
pronounced by the Presidents of the People’s
Club and the Department. The morning’s celebra-
tion ended in a general carmagnole. The Club
of Vincent-la-Montagne had promised the people
a féte on the day of the last decade of Brumaire.
For too many centuries artists have sold their
talent to the idleness of kings and the shameless-
ness of courtisans ; it was right that theatres, for
so long open in the name of the king, should now
be so in the name of the people. Their enemies
had not scrupled to declare that a free show would
bring indecency and a possibly dangerous report
in its train. But these cowardly calumniators of
the people had no taste of the fiendish delight they
thought they were preparing for themselves.
K
130 CORRESPONDENCE OF
When aristocrats go to the theatre, paying for
the privilege, the people are insulted and reviled ;
the day when the people went as a whole, perfect
order intensified the interest of the play. The
performance of “Caius Gracchus,” this Roman
Marat,’ was a great lesson for the people and
considerably affected them. Between the acts
cries of LONG LIVE THE MOUNTAIN! were very
noticeable. General Robert, like a true Republi-
can, struck up the National Hymn. The town
was illuminated the whole night long. Patriotic
hopes were in no way disappointed and it is
to be frankly acknowledged that public opinion
has followed immediately upon revolutionary
measures.
The Nantais, Citizen Colleagues, are again
inflamed with that ardent enthusiasm whose
outbursts marked their first action at the dawn
of the Revolution. Everywhere Liberty is
worshipped by the people. Nature has graven
her image in their hearts; the one thing needful
to bring that impulse to revolutionary standard
is to foster it. Ca Va, Ca Va, and Ca Ira.
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
1 Gracchus Babceuf will later describe Nero as ‘‘ that Carrier
of the Romans ”’ (La Vie et les Crimes de J.-B. Carrier).
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 131
Letter of Carrier to General Avril.
(Entire from Une Mission en Vendée (Lockroy), p. 295.)
November 24th, 1793.
Liberty. Equality.
Department of Morbihan.
NANTES. 4th Frimaire.
Year 2 of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
Carrier, People’s Representative at the Army
of the West, authorizes General Avril and Citizen
Lebatteux, Director of the Posts at Rhédon, to
visit all the Communes of the Department of
Morbihan and Finistére with the forces at present
under their orders, for the purpose of exercising in
them the revolutionary powers that we have
delegated to them ; he orders all the Constituted
Authorities of the said Departments to second by
every means the law confides to them the measures
which these citizens will judge it expedient to the
public safety to take; orders the armed force
everywhere to obey their requisitions ; forbids all
citizens and administrative bodies to put the least
hindrance upon the operations which Citizens
Avril and Lebatteux may contemplate, under
pain of being regarded as enemies of the Republic
and punished as such.
The People’s Representative,
CARRIER.
132 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carrier to Lebatteux.
(Entire from Une Mission en Vendée, p. 296.)
(November 24th, 1793.)
NANTES. 4th Frimaire.
Year 2 of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
Carrier, People’s Representative at the Army
of the West, orders Citizen Lebatteux, Director of
the Posts at Rhédon, to conduct the 5th Battalion
of the Bas-Rhin into cantons of the Department of
Morbihan and wherever counter-revolutionary
-movements have shown or will show themselves.
The Commandant of the said Battalion, the officers
and soldiers who compose it, the horse chasseurs
and the cannoneers who follow it, will go wherever.
Citizen Lebatteux summons them, and he will
take at Rhédon all the disposable forces of the
— commune.
All these forces, united or in part, will execute
the measures of public safety that Citizen Lebat-
teux may prescribe to them, and Citizen Lebatteux
is authorized to take the precautions which appear
expedient to him to assure their subsistences, and
to requisition in every commune patriots needed
to reinforce the troops which are with him. “ He
will cause to be put to death any individual found
forming assemblies with the object of revolting
against the Republic, and will order their property
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 133
to be burnt’; he will have every suspected person
disarmed and arrested and will give their arms to
the patriots whom he has requisitioned ; and he
will carry out all other measures of public safety
which love of liberty, of his country, and the
Republican principles with which he is animated
will dictate to him.
The paymaster-general of Ile-et-Vilaine and all
the district receivers will furnish on his simple
quittance the sums of which he stands in need,
~ for which he will subsequently account.
The Representative of the French People,
CARRIER.
Letier to Carney from Prieur (of Marne) and
other Representatives.
(Entire from Bliard, Prieur de la Marne, p. 270.)
RENNES. 6th Frimaive, Year 2.
(26th November).
A resolution of the 6th Frimaire: The Repre-
sentatives on Mission had decided, ‘“‘ To send to
Nantes, that same evening, an extraordinary
courier to advise their colleague Carrier of the
flight of a considerable number of officers and
soldiers from the United Armies of the West and
the Coasts of Brest, and to propose that he should
cause to be arrested all those who should have left
without an order, and to have them brought back
by the armed force of the United Armies. He was
134 CORRESPONDENCE OF
also to make domiciliary visits in the town of
Nantes for the purpose of arresting all armed
soldiers who should be found in it, and to have
them taken back to their Armies. . . .”
Letter of Carrier to the Municipality (of Nantes).
(Entire from Lallié, J.-B. Carrier.)
(28th November, 1793.)
(Extract from the Register of the Warrants of the Repre-
sentatives addressed to the Municipality. )
NANTES. 8th Frimaire, Year 2.
CITIZENS,
Carry out at once the order I am sending
you; nominate immediately the number of
citizens it determines so that they can set out
to-morrow ; the public safety demands the speedy
execution of these measures. |
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.*
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 9, p. 50. Aulard’s
Analysis.)
NANTES. oth Frimaire, Year 2
(29th November, 1793).
Carrier shows that at the moment when the
Resolution of the Committee of Public Safety
1 See p. 122. The letter of Carrier to the Committee of the
igth November is obviously the original of this Analysis.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 135
reached him he had fulfilled its dispositions ;
that all the steps are taken to oppose the re-entry
of the brigands into the Vendée; that in conse-
quence of the action which took place at Dol, they
have evacuated Pontorson, Dol, and Antrain ;
that the Noirmoutier expedition had the happiest
beginnings. Horses, carriages, workmen, are in
requisition for the transport to Nantes of all
subsistences which are found in the insurgent
countries. By a Resolution the Committee asks
him the present position of Nantes; its pro-
visioning is from hand to mouth. He has had
buildings of all kinds burnt in the revolting
countries, but General Haxo has remarked that he
has not been able to burn the Forest of Machecoul.
As soon as possible he will transmit a requisition
for subsistences. He has announced to the Con-
vention the counter-revolutionary troubles which
have manifested themselves in Morbihan. He has
had five thousand pairs of shoes made and sent to
the Army of the West. He transmits a copy of
the letter which has been addressed to him by the
People’s Club at Saint-Brieuc, together with a list
of the merchants of Nantes.
136 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carner to General Avril.
(Entire from Une Mission en Vendée, p. 297.)
(30th November, 1793.)
Liberty. Equality.
Department of Morbihan.
NANTES. 10th Frimaive.
Year 2 of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
Carrier, People’s Representative, attached to the
Army of the West, to Citizen Avril, Adjutant-
General, Chief of Brigade.
< Continue, Citizen, to carry terror and death
to all the counter-revolutionists» of Morbihan
and the surrounding communes, Let every
individual suspected of incivism or of having
dabbled in counter-revolutionary plots be instantly
incarcerated in safe prisons. ~Let every individual
whom you may find armed against the Republic
or taking part in counter-revolutionary assem-
blages be instantly put to death and their property
consigned to the flames.» Summon before you
the inhabitants of each commune, and if by means
of information upon which you can rely you
obtain the names of absentees or of counter-
revolutionists, or of persons bearing arms against
the Republic, deliver their property to the flames
forthwith and see that the Constituted Authorities
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 137
cause their goods to be confiscated.1 These
orders I delegate to you with confidence, and I
hope you will carry them out with as much
firmness as zeal.
CARRIER.
Another version of the same letter :
Letter of Carrier to General Avril.
(Entire from Duchatellier, La Révolution en Bretagne,
t. 4, p. 46.)
NANTES. 10th Frimaire, Year 2
(30th November, 1793).
Letter from Carrier to General Avril, between
Roche-Saveur? and Rédon.
Continue to carry death and terror into
Morbihan ; imprison suspected persons and all
who take part in assemblages ; burn the property
of the insurgents; denounce to the Constituted
Authorities all absentees who shall be presumed
to be taking arms to the houses of the rebels ;
point out their property to the Administrative
bodies to facilitate the confiscation ; these are my
orders to you and you will execute them with all
possible activity and zeal.®
1 There seems a distinction here between such property as
houses and buildings and the stores or furniture within them.
* Revolutionary name, formerly Roche-Bernard.
’ Note the subtle difference in the meaning of this letter
produced by the condensation. Lockroy’s edition (Une Mission
en Vendée) is probably correct. I give both versions as an
example of the way in which the “ Analysis ” frequently alters
the meaning of the original letter,
138 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter from the Commuttee of Public Safety to
Carrier.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 9, p. 123.)
PARIS. 13th Frimaire. Year 2
(3rd of December, 1793).
We fear, dear Colleague, that the expedition
of our Resolution of the goth current, delivered
to a courier who conducted Levasseur to Nantes,
may not reach you soon enough ; that is why we
are despatching a duplicate to you by another.
We invite you, as we did by the letter accom-
panying the first despatch, to send a copy of
the Resolution to the chief commander of the
Army of the West, and to acquaint our colleagues
Bourbotte and Prieur (of Marne) therewith.?
Resolution of the Committee of Public Safety.
(Abridged from Recueil des Actes, t. 9, p. 38.)
oth Frimaire. Year 2.
No. 3.
(x) The return passage across the Loire by
the brigands is to be opposed by all possible
means. (2) The bridges of Cé and Saumur will
be destroyed as well as boats and crafts between
Saumur and Nantes. The Tours Bridge will be
cut if necessary. (3) S. Florent and all practicable
passages across the Loire will be guarded. (4), (5),
(6) The forces beyond the Loire are to harass the
1 This letter seems lost,
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 139
retreating columns of brigands as they attempt
the crossing ; to surround them if possible, and to
prevent them from entering Nantes or gaining the
Vendée by skirting the town. (7) General Haxo
is to guard the posts on the left bank of the Loire,
and also to hold back Charette and prevent his
junction with the other rebels. (8) Levasseur (of
Sarthe) will depart immediately to see that these
instructions are carried out.
| CARNOT.!
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Acies, t. 9, p. 222. Aulard’s
Analysis.)
NANTES. 16th Frimaire. Year 2
(6th December, 1793).
Carrier informs the Committee that he has
carried out the provisions of their Resolution.?
They are precisely conformable to his own—his
last letter to the Committee should convince them
of this. For three weeks public spirit at Nantes
has been at revolutionary height. The tricolour
floats from every window, civic inscriptions are
on view everywhere. Priests have found their
grave in the Loire. Fifty-three others are to
undergo the same fate. _
Counter-revolutionists' in the prisons have
hatched a horrible plot after the departure of
+ In Carnot’s hand-writing. 2 See p. 138,
140 CORRESPONDENCE OF
their companions. With the aid of false keys
they were to open the prison doors, strangle the
concierge and guards, burn the prisons and a part
of Nantes. Six of the most guilty were guillotined
on the spot; a decisive measure will give the
others into our hands.
He announces a success at Angers and the
capture of [lle Bouin, near Noirmoutier. Details
will be sent to him to-morrow which he will
forward at once.?
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Rapport sur La Vendée. Delivered in Convention
25th Frimaire, Year 2, and printed by order of the Con-
vention. Barrére’s Report, p. 35.)
NANTES. 16th Frimaire. Year 2
(6th December, 1793).
(Carrier informs the Committee that he has
carried out the provisions of their Resolution.
They are perfectly conformable to his own—his
last letter to the Committee should convince them
of this.)®
1 This refers to the departure of the Cent-Tvente-Deux, who
left Nantes for Paris on the 7th Frimaire.
2 This letter was analysed from the Archive Analysis. The
original, apparently not known to Aulard, follows.
8 Barrére does not give this part of the letter, which I hae:
fore reproduced from Aulard’s Analysis. It was not likely, of
course, to interest his audience, the Convention. Also the Com-
mittee was apt to take upon itself overmuch power, sometimes
to the discontent of the ‘‘ Conventionnels,”’
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 141
You cannot form any idea of the rapid progress
public spirit has made here during the last three
weeks. You will have difficulty in believing that
it is at the highest pitch of the Revolution ;
opinions of the most ardent civism are heard on
all sides ; the tricolour floats from every window ;
civic inscriptions are on view everywhere ; “the
churches of former times have become public
establishments ; everything announces the death
of fanaticism and superstition and the assured
triumph of patriotism.
The accident that happened to the priests who
perished in the Loire rejoices the heart of every
citizen. My colleagues at Angers have just sent
me fifty-three more of them. »
In exchange for these brands of civil war, I have
sent to Angers a hundred and thirty of the greatest
counter-revolutionists of Nantes.!_ My colleagues
send me word that they have taken the necessary
precautions to prevent them absolutely from
joining their dear brigands.
The remaining counter-revolutionists in the
prisons of Nantes, after the departure of their
companions, have hatched the most horrible
plots. With the aid of several false keys made
and found at Nantes, they intended to open the
prison doors, strangle concierge and guards, and
1 According to information given to Carrier. They were
arrested prior to his residence in Nantes, and his acquaintance
with them was slight.
142 CORRESPONDENCE OF
set fire to the prisons and a great part of Nantes.
Six of the most guilty were guillotined on the
spot ; a decisive measure will deliver the others
into our hands.*
The brigands have attacked Angers on all
points on the left bank of the Mayenne and along
the La Fléche and Saumur roads; the attack was
very lively ; it lasted two days and was principally
directed on the gates of Saint-Michel and Saint-
Aubin.
Before your Resolution reached me I had
invited Generals Haxo and Dutruy to suspend
the expedition to Noirmoutiers; General
Rossignol had adopted the same measure. On
receipt of my letter General Dutruy came at once
to Nantes to ask me to raise the suspension ; he
remarked that as he and General Haxo had
gained five successive victories over the army of
Charette, putting it to rout in disorder, and as
this fugitive band had now no more than eight
leagues of territory upon which it could retire,
they ought not to be stopped in the good work ;?
he further announced that he had put at General
Vimeux’ requisition, and consequently at my
orders, about three thousand men from the posts
round about Nantes, who could hurry thither in
any emergency. I agreed to his requisition, and
1 The measure in question consisted in the use of a prison ©
spy.
2 En beau chemin.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 143
General Dutruy took to his comrade Haxo forth-
with the authorization to continue their opera-
tions on Noirmoutiers. This plan has been
followed in its essentials.
I have this moment received a letter from
General Haxo, who informs me that he has gained
possession of Beauvoir after having beaten the
brigands there, who retired into the Marais? which
they had taken the precaution to cut off, and
which facilitated their retreat by opposing the
charge of our troops. Further, he informs me that
he is before Boin,? into which the brigands have
thrown themselves, and where they have stored
all their wealth ; that the approach to it is not
easy, but that he is considering how best to over-
come the obstacles in the way ; the weather seems
to favour our operations. We may be able to
finish them off in the Marais by pursuing them
thither, instead of doing so by flooding it, as we
should have to do if the fine weather had not
continued. I have given General Haxo very
stringent orders to destroy all the high-roads if
the weather doesn’t allow him to get near this
last refuge of the brigands.
The brigands once exterminated in the Marais
de Bouin, we shall proceed against Noirmoutiers ;
1 La Marais de Bouin, a section of swamp land on the extreme
northern seaboard of La Vendée. Beauvoir and Bouin are
towns in this region, the brigands’ last stronghold on the mainland.
* Both spellings of Bouin are used in this letter.
144 CORRESPONDENCE OF
as the attack is going to be lively, the naval forces
are very considerable and in the best dispositions ;
the land forces could not be better.
At Nantes I have made Generals Haxo and
Dutruy fraternize together, and the harmony and
fraternity existing between them is truly admir-
able. How desirable it is that the same union
should exist between all the chiefs of our armies !
How well everything would go then! Also not a
single act of cowardice is observable in the
soldiers who march under the orders of these
brave generals; they all fight with confidence
and intrepidity, and six victories to-day cover
them with glory. We have a number of hind-
rances alas, elsewhere, but C a va, C atal
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
General Haxo has this moment informed me
that he has taken Ile de Boin : to-morrow he will |
send me the details: I will forward them to the
Convention.
. Vive la République!
CARRIER.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 145
Letter of General Dutruy to Carner.
(Entire from MSS., Musée Thomas Dobrée, Nantes.)
Army of the West. In the Name of the Republic.
Division of Les Sables.
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, or Death.
GENERAL STAFF,
HEAD-QUARTERS OF BOUIN.
(No date. About 7th December.)
DuTRUY TO CARRIER,
I inform you that yesterday was a great
day for us. I am not going to count the dead
since they’ve all (the brigands on Bouin—E.H.C.)
got to die. Charette has run away. I took from
them three cannon and their caissons: two of
them were of four and one of eighteen. Long live
the Republic !
I have heard the growling of Haxo’s cannon.
I think he has been successful. Sacré nom d’un
Dieu, Ca va! Iam requesting you for the blue
flag, you must also send me an authorization to
keep near me in quality of aide-de-camp Citizen
Frangois Piet. I have need of an aide-de-camp.
I expect this favour from you. It is just.
Greeting. Sacré nom d'un Dieu.
DutTRvit.'
1 The name of General Dutruy, like that of General Haxo,
seems to be subject to variant spelling.
L
146 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carrier to the National Convention.
(Entire from the Bulletin of the National Convention. Sitting
of the 1st day of the 3rd decade of the 3rd month of
the 2nd year.)
18th Frimatre
(8th December, 1793).
I hasten to send you an account of the recent
success of the Republican troops against the
brigands on the left bank of the Loire.
On the 14th, our vanguard completely defeated
Charette before Beauvoir and took possession of
the Commune. The hasty retreat of the brigands
was directed on Ille Bouin, attacked by two
columns, under the command of General Haxo, on
the 16th: one coming from Beauvoir and the
other from the Wood of Cené: the attacks were
vigorous. The enemy, beset on two points, could
not resist: there was an utter rout, which would
have ended in complete extermination had not
the nature of the ground prevented pursuit. This
horde hurled itself into the marshes, which they
scoured for a distance of two leagues; then
suddenly turning to the left they plunged into the
Cené Wood, where General Haxo, with less than
two hundred men, had taken up his position :
these gave battle: our brave Republicans, with
no thought of the number of the enemy, pursued
about a thousand brigands for almost two leagues
in the woods without the loss of a single man.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER ~~ 147
All these fights have not cost the Republic ten
men: her glory is to possess the most patient,
indefatigable and courageous soldiers: nothing
astonishes them and nothing stands in their way.
In spite of the severity of the weather they are
constantly in water up to the waist that they may
plunge upon the brigands with bayonet blows.
We captured four pieces of four and one of
eighteen, horses, a marvellous quantity of pro-
visions and fodder, and we are now in possession of
Ille Bouin. The remainder of Charette’s band is
routed : I hope soon to inform you of its complete
and final destruction.
CARRIER.
Letter of General Haxo to the Representative Carrier.
(Entire from MSS., Musée Thomas Dobrée, Nantes.)
MACHECOUL. 18th Frimaire. Year 2
(8th December, 1793).
{ confess to you, my dear Carrier, that I was
very surprised not to find at Machecoul the troops
I had left there, and that the noise of my musketry
the day before yesterday, on the brigands, caused
the desertion of an important post, since it is
through (Machecoul)- that I communicate with
Nantes.
One must take the evil with the good, my dear
friend, but the contrast is unique: I am beating
a thousand brigands at Boisdeseneit, as I have
148 CORRESPONDENCE OF
notified to you already, and our troops are flying
at the noise of our gun-shots and of those of
ninety-eight volunteers of Isle-et-Vilaine, at the
head of which I charged them until eight o’clock
in the evening without losing a single man.
Our worthy Commissioners of the Department
have left me also, and in such a manner that I was
obliged to return here with my avant-garde,
leaving them on Thursday at the Isle de Boint.?
You see, dear friend, that this affair delays
somewhat the furtherance of my expeditions, and
you must communicate my letter to General
Vimeus? forthwith, so that he can give the order
to Adjutant-General Guétant at Paimbceuf who
commanded here.
I am returning thither with his garrison, and
with him, that all the posts he had under his
orders may be equally occupied. The thing is
urgent, as you see, and Vimeus ought to put a
great deal of activity into it. I am writing to
Rossignol, under flying seal, so that you can read
my letter and then send it on to him. He will be
very pleased to learn of our successes and we
shan’t stop here.
The soldiers are in absolute want of shoes and
I hope you will send me a thousand pairs of them
to-morrow. My soldiers fight well, and they ought
to be well looked after.
1 This is not the only orthographic fault in the good General’s
letter. 2 That is, General Vimeux.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER —-149
Communicate my letter to General Vimeus, whom
I embrace with all my heart, as well as yourself.
Yesterday I saw Dutruit at Beauvoir, whither
I had gone to look for my avant-garde, which I kept
on the march the whole night through so that it
might arrive at daybreak.
I learnt with pleasure of our successes on the
side of Angers, send me a word about them, I
pisy you: The General of Brigade,
j HAxo.
MACHECOUL. 18th Frimaire.
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 9, p. 315.)
NANTES. 20th Frimaire, Year 2
(roth December, 1793).
CITIZEN COLLEAGUES,
This is the eighth victory that the Re-
publican troops have won on the left bank of the
Loire against Charette’s brigands.
This horde, escaped from [lle Bouin, and still
five to six thousand strong, came on the 17th by
way of the Forest of Jouvois to the Nantes road,
with the object of attacking the outposts of Légé,
under the command of Adjutant-General Guillaume.
The attack was very sharp and well sustained.
The enemy bore our fire for two and a half hours.
Three hundred cannon shots did something to
weaken their forces, and they began to waver.
150 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Then was the order sounded for the double-quick
charge. At once the 110th Regiment on the
Nantes road was over its outworks; Charette’s
battalion hurled itself across the hedges and
thickets that covered the brigands, and these
latter, attacked on all sides, took refuge in the
woods.
The brave defenders of the Republic, whom
lack of shoes had forced to remain in their tents,
wrapped their feet in linen and fought with their
comrades. With bravery !
Among the brave Republicans who distinguished
themselves on that day is one who has earned for
himself a glorious title to the national grati-
tude, Citizen Mathurin Tandy, a sub-lieutenant
of engineers. Struck by a ball which pierced his
shoulder he nevertheless remained with his
soldiers; not for a moment did he cease to
encourage them or to distribute cartridges.
How comes it that this event is accompanied by
another no longer strange to us? < Fifty-eight
individuals, termed refractory priests, have been
sent to Nantes from Angers: they were at once
placed in a ship on the Loire: last night they were
one and all swallowed up by the river. What a
revolutionary torrent is the Loire !™
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
1 On the 27th Brumaire Carrier wrote to the Convention
announcing the “‘noyade”’ of the ninety priests. He says “I have
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 151
Letier of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 9, p. 331.)
NANTES. 21st Frimaive. Year 2
(11th December, 1793).
My last letter, dear Colleagues, must have
informed you that for some time the attack on
Noirmoutier has been suspended by my orders,
which earlier urged it on. Since then we have
taken Beauvoir and Bouin, and at Légé have
beaten brigands escaped from that island and
commanded by Charette; they have fled to the
Forest of Grande-Lande and the surrounding
woods.
General Haxo had Légé fortified, and marched
at once to Noirmoutier with Dutruy; I am
momentarily expecting news of the capture of
this last refuge of the brigands.
Do not be anxious about the defence of Nantes ;
Levasseur, who stayed here for two days, will
give you an account of it. The garrison is not
very strong just now for it occupies several
important positions, but the brigands are at some
distance from the walls. It is much better that it
just learnt ’ and his relation bears upon its surface a certain
guardedness. The whole country was rising against the priests.
How would the Convention take the news of this accident.
The letter was inserted in the Bulletin of the National Convention,
and neither the populace nor the heads of Government made
any outcry of disapproval. A second “‘noyade’”’ of priests
showed that the “‘ occurrence ’’ had not been censured. __
152 CORRESPONDENCE OF
should guard places from which it is possible to
disperse incipient assemblies than remain idle in
Nantes, especially as access from their posts is
easy. After all, three thousand men from Haxo’s
troops, occupied in keeping open communication
with Nantes and in opposing the brigands under
Charette, can fall back on it immediately. Nantes
is, in addition, impregnable from the left bank of
the Loire.
You may see how my measures are in accord
with your own! I only anticipate them and am
as much interested as you can be in the destruction
of the brigands. I think that you may, indeed
that you ought, to rely on mex I understand—
yes, to-day I may say so—the art of war; I am
on the spot; set your minds at ease, therefore,
‘and let me have my way.»
As soon as I hear of the capture of Noirmoutier
I shall send stringent orders to Generals Dutruy
and Haxo to put to death indiscriminately all
persons of either sex found in the revolting
districts, and to complete the devastations ; you
must know that it is the women, together with the
refractory priests, who have fomented and pro-
longed this Vendean War—that is, it is they who
' have shot many of our unfortunate prisoners, have
strangled many, who fight with the brigands, and
1 Noncombatants had been ordered to retire from the area
of fighting (a certain number of miles from the banks of the
Loire, etc.). [Orders from the Convention (Recueil, Moniteur, etc.)]
JEAN BAPTISTE CARRIER 153
pitilessly slay our volunteers when they meet
any of them by chance in the villages. It is an
outlawed brood, together with the peasants, for
there is not one who has not borne arms against
the Republic, and we must rid the earth of them.
And have no concern for the passage of the
Loire ; Levasseur will tell you that he has not seen
a single boat on the river from Nantes to Angers,
only armed ones on the left bank to prevent the
entry of the brigands into the Vendée. On his
return he found some boats in the direction of
Ancenis, but they were there by my orders to
procure wood for Nantes and coal for the factories
of Indret and Lorient ; I had confided the trust to
two patriotic and active sailors. The brigands
were in the direction of La Fléche ; the Armies of
the West and Cherbourg were at some distance
from Ancenis, but between that commune and the
brigands, who thus could not approach Ancenis.
It is in truth superfluous to conceive empty
anxieties for the boats in charge of brave and
vigilant patriots.
Fifty-eight priests from Angers have perished
in the Loire. What happened to the hundred-
and-thirty counter-revolutionists whom I sent to
Angers in exchange ? I have had no definite news
of them.
I am having shoes made, but so many are
needed for Haxo’s column and for the different
stations near Nantes that I cannot furnish the
154 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Army of the West with all they require. Seven
hundred pairs are sent to them daily, but how
insufficient is this! Send them the ten thousand
pairs for which I and my colleagues have asked
you ; send them by post, don’t lose a moment ;
it is a more urgent matter than you think.
Energy, speed, in this matter !
I emphatically recommend to the national
vengeance those counter-revolutionary scoundrels,
Beysser, Baco, Beaufranchet, and Letourneux ;
the heads of these four criminals can never heal
the deep wounds they have dealt their country.
It is desirable, it is even essential, that the
Criminal Court should condemn them to death
speedily, and appoint the execution in Nantes—it
would be ineffective in Paris, and would be of the
greatest benefit here. Send them all back while
I am here, these four great conspirators, and I will
be responsible for making their heads fall. »
Montaut, sometime captain of the gunners of
Rennes, who commanded the Departmental Force
in Vernon, ought to undergo the same punishment,
but if you wish this to be so, send him to me at
Nantes after you have condemned him; I will
have him executed at Rennes. It is absolutely
essential that the death of these great criminals
should be used to terrify the less-important ones
who may escape our vengeance.
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER,
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 155
Letter of Carrier to General Haxo.
(Entire from MSS., Musée Thomas Dobrée, Nantes.)
NANTES. 22nd Frimaire.
2nd Year of the French Republic,
One Indivisible and Imperishable.
(12th December, 1793.)
Carrier, People’s Representative at the Army of
the West, to General Haxo.
I am sending you, my brave General, the letter
I have just received from Citizen Pitot, ship’s
lieutenant, of the Division of the Naval forces of
the Republic at the Bay of Bourgneuf. It is for
you to give him the orders and the information he
requests.
I am sending you the horse for which you have
asked me. Full of confidence in you, I will say
nothing further about the retrograde movement
of Machecoult. Embrace our friend Dutruy for
me and all the sans-culottes who fight under you,
and capture Noirmoutier promptly.
Greeting and fraternity.
156 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carrier to General Haxo.'
(Entire from Piéces Remises a la Commission des Vingt et Un.
Original Print, British Museum, 1794.)
NANTES. 23 Frimaire. Year 2
(13th December, 1793).
(Copy of the letter of the People’s Represen-
tative, Carrier, of the 23rd Frimaire, to General
Haxo.) |
I learn at this instant, my brave General,
that the Commissioners of the Department of
La Vendée wish to share with those of the Depart-
ment of the Lower-Loire the provisions or forage
which may be found in Bouin or Noirmoutier. It
is very astonishing that La Vendée dares to
1 The Commission of the Twenty-one. The history of these
papers is briefly thus: ‘‘On the 6th Brumaire, Year 3 (27th
October, 1794), Raffron informed the Convention that the “instruc-
tion ’’ at the Revolutionary Tribunal against the Revolutionary .
Committee of Nantes and the Company Marat had come to a
standstill owing to the grave accusations made by the accused
against a certain deputy (Carrier) then at liberty (Moniteur, t. 22,
Pp. 363 et seg.). The result of the lengthy debates that followed
was that all communications against a People’s Representative
should be “‘ forwarded ”’ to the three Committees of Public Safety,
General Security, and Legislation. These papers (the Pvéces
Remises) were then to be sent on to a Commission of Twenty-
one, chosen by lot, which would make a report upon them and
answer the question, yes or no, as to whether there were grounds
for examination of the conduct of the denounced (the Report of
the Commission of the Twenty-one). In Carrier’s case the reply
was in the affirmative, and he made his replies to the charges in
Convention on the Ist Frimaire and the two following days.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 15
demand such provisions after having rent the
country by the most sanguinary and cruel war.
~ My projects and the orders of the National Con- ;
vention are to remove all provisions, commodities,
forage, everything, in a word, from this accursed
country; to burn all the buildings, and to
exterminate all the inhabitants. I am passing on
the order to you at once, for they still wish to
starve the patriots after having caused them to
perish by thousands! Set yourself to prevent
the Vendeans from keeping their grain and from
obtaining new supplies. Make them deliver it to
the Department Commission sitting at Nantes.
I give you the most precise, the most imperative
order. You will answer to me from this moment
for its execution. In a word, leave nothing in this
country of proscriptions ; as for the provisions,
commodities, forage, everything—absolutely every-
thing—must be transported to Nantes. »
The People’s Representative,
CARRIER.!
+ See the Declaration of the Convention: the brigands were
to be exterminated by the 1st of November, 1793! See also the
Committee of Public Safety on this matter, pp. 138, 139.
158 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carrier to General Haxo.*
(Arch. Nat. MSS. Rev. Trib. Entire. Analysis.)
NANTES. 237d Frimaire. Year 2
(13th December, 1793).
He is surprised that the Vendeans should ask
for provisions; by order of the Convention no
provisions of any kind are to be left there;
buildings are to be burnt and lands ravaged. They
have caused the death of thousands of patriots ;
let them starve and die. The Vendée is not to
have a single grain left in the country.
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 9, p. 486.)
NANTES. 25th Frimaire. Year 2
(15th December, 1793).
I send you word, dear Colleagues, that official
letters from the Administrators of Mayenne have
just informed me that the brigands who have
evacuated Le Mans have marched to and occupied
Chateaubriant, and that one of their columns is at
present between Candé and Ancenis, three leagues
from the latter. As soon as I heard the news I
sent a special envoy to General Haxo, who has
just beaten the brigands by the Bridge of Mates,
1 I give the Analysis preserved in the Archives, interesting in
mere comparison with the original.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 159
at Périer and Beauvoir, and has captured four
pieces of cannon, the only artillery they had, and
two ammunition waggons, to ask him to send
from his outposts three thousand men for the
defence of that place.
At the same time I have despatched three brave
patriots to Ancenis with orders not to leave a
single boat on the Loire, with the exception of the
armed floats, and three carpenters to cut down the
Oudon Bridge, in case the inhabitants of Ancenis
should have to take refuge in Nantes.
I have also given orders to a clerk of the Depart-
ment of the Lower-Loire to forestall these measures
and to send to Nantes itself all the provisions of
that and the neighbouring communes.1 The
guard at Niort is warned and I have also sent six
carpenters to cut down the Bourg Bridge, so as
to intercept the passage from Chateaubriant to
Rennes. I have also informed the (Revolutionary)
Committee of Rédon of the enemy’s movements,
which are probably towards Morbihan, and have
asked them to levy a force in the patriotic
communes which may oppose a vigorous resistance
to the march of the brigands, to cut down the
Rédon Bridge if the enemy direct themselves
towards this commune, and to destroy or burn
all boats and floats which happen to be found on
the Vilaine.
1 To prevent them from falling into the hands, or rather,
mouths, of the brigands.
160 CORRESPONDENCE OF
{I have also informed them of the enemy’s
movements in the Blain district, adjoining them
to burn and destroy all boats and crafts on the
River Irac, and to forward to Nantes at once all
the supplies and shoes they may have. I have
told General Rossignol, in Rennes, of the brigand
march ; inviting him to give orders to the men at
the stations, and all Republican troops at his
command, to unite for an effective resistance to
the brigands.
I have also given notice to the renewed adminis-
tration of the Department of Morbihan, and to
General Avril who is in command there. I have
advised them to take speedy measures to prevent
the invasion of the Department by the brigands,
warning them that such was their intention.
I have sent special couriers everywhere, saying
that the united armies follow on their heels and
that, do they ever so slightly oppose or delay the
march by intercepting communications they will
be destroyed. All the guards on the left bank of
the Loire have been warned of the enemy’s move-
ments.
Such, my dear Colleagues, are the measures I
have planned and whose prompt execution follow.
I have sent word of my plans to my colleagues
who are with the United Armies,! and to General
Turreau, and have suggested that they make
1 The three chiefs being, Prieur (of Marne), Bourbotte, and
Turreau.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 161
forced marches on the flying brigand horde. Iam
waiting for their replies. At the same time I have
made them acquainted with my grave fears lest
the brigands enter Morbihan, where indeed I have
had stern revolutionary measures executed, but
where they will not fail to find numerous partisans.
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to the Convention.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 9, p. 428, and Le Moniteur,
Sitting of the Convention the 29th Frimaire, t. 19, p. 5.)
NANTES. 25th Frimatre. Year 2
(15th December, 1793).
CITIZEN COLLEAGUES,
How satisfactory it is to me to have
nothing but success of our Army on the left bank
of the Loire to report to you! Yesterday at ten
the order was given to open fire on the brigands
at the Mates Bridge, at Pérrier and Beauvoir.
Three false attacks were an effective aid to the
ones we really intended. Everything fell out as
we desired ; General Haxo directed on the right,
General Dutruy on the left. A circuit of eight
leagues was covered by brave Republicans by the
rapidity with which they broke through every
obstacle, crying “ VIVE LA REPUBLIQUE!” and
carrying sword and fire in every direction. Four
pieces of artillery, the only ones the brigands
possessed, were seized, bayonets fixed on the
M
162 CORRESPONDENCE OF
muzzles of the guns. Our fearless defenders were
up to their waists in water, but the volleys poured
upon them had no effect; they chased the
brigands during three consecutive hours and
captured two powder-waggons.
Small assemblies of brigands have already been
formed round Ponx; we sent three hundred men
thither, who dispersed them in Republican fashion.
In the direction of Saint-Pazaune another began
to be disturbing, a second detachment sent there
routed the rebels and left forty-two dead on the
spot.
Were it only possible that the accord between
Generals Haxo and Dutruy, productive of so
much confidence in the soldiers, could unite all the
Generals of our armies, we might count on nothing
but victories. |
Greeting, fraternity, and friendship,
CARRIER.
Letter from the Revolutionary Committee of Super-
vision of Les Sables. To the People’s Repre-
sentative, Carrier, at Nantes.
(Entire from Charles-Louis Chassin, La Vendée Patriote,
t. 4, p. 180.)
Les SABLES. 26th Frimatre. Year 2
(16th December, 1793).
BROTHER,
Dutruy has instructed us that you have
given orders for the removal of all the grain which
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 163
may be found at Bouin and Noirmoutier, and that
it is to be sent to Nantes, and nowhere else. This
news is well calculated to alarm Republicans
whose subsistences have all but given out.
It can only be malevolence which has given you
deceptive assurance as to the provisioning of this
country. Learn that it is in the most appalling
misery ; that the Division of Les Sables and the
commune have hardly bread for a fortnight ;
and that almost whole communes are in absolute
need of bread. Come and verify these facts for
yourself. You know our necessities, our veracity,
and our great and daily anxiety on this important
matter. Do not therefore expose good sans-
culottes to the horrors of famine; do not allow
the resources of their territory to be removed from
them. If our brothers of Nantes are in equal need,
well then, let us share alike. We conjure you in
the name of the public safety to give orders that
this fraternal sharing be carried out with precision.
Greeting and fraternity,
(THE REVOLUTIONARY COMMITTEE OF
SUPERVISION OF LES SABLEs.)!
1 The reasons for Carrier’s orders become obvious later.
Les Sables, near the rebels of Noirmoutier, etc., may very well
come to be attacked by the “ brigands,’’ who would then make
good use of the grain. On the refusal of this Committee to allow
Carrier’s orders to be executed, that Representative wrote his
letter of the 3rd Pluvidse (22nd Jan.) to General Dutruy (q.v.),
putting Les Sables in state of siege. The Committee of Public
Safety raised this siege by a resolution dated 17th Ventdse,
Year 2 (Recueil, t. 11, p. 581, No. 6). Prieur (Marne) writes to the
164 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carrier to General Duiruy, Commander of
the Division of Les Sables.
(Entire from Wallon, Les Représentants en Mission, t. 1, p. 414,
and Henri Chardon, Les Vendéens dans La Sarthe, t. 2,
p. 148.)
NANTES. 29th Frimaire
(19th December, 1793).
Prisoners are being led to Nantes in hundreds ;
the guillotine cannot suffice. They are being
shot. Long, long life to the Republic ! Comrade,
how well things are going !
Letter of Carrier to the Convention.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 9, p. 550. Moniteur, t. 19,
p. 57. And Bulletin de la Convention Nationale, 6th
Nivése, Year 2.)
NANTES. 30th Frimaire, Year 2
(zoth December, 1793).
CITIZENS MY COLLEAGUES,
You have decreed that there is no more
Vendée ; you will soon be able to decree that there
is not a single brigand !
The Le Mans’ affaire was so desperate, so
Committee on the 29th March, 1794: “‘ We see with pain that ...
you have resolved to declare the town of Les Sables out of siege ;
you have been deceived as to the public spirit of that commune ”’
(Recueil, t. 12, p. 269). Hentz, Garrau, Prieur, write much the
same on 18th March, 1794.
1 As having been taken “‘ arms in hand.”’
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 165
murderous for them, that from that commune to
Laval the ground is heaped with their slain. Their
rout was so complete that they parted in the
greatest disorder. One company of these scoun-
drels went towards Chateaubriant, the other to
Ancenis. The garrison thought it was with
hostile intent and fell back on Nantes. For the
moment I am taking strong, effective measures to
prevent the passage of the Loire and the Vilaine.*
I have informed the Committee of Public Safety
thereof. :
The next day I was informed by the captain of
the armed boats placed on the left bank of the
Loire that the brigands had gone in large numbers
to Ancenis and were attempting to cross the river
by means of barrels brought on waggons and casks
nailed to planks. But he also informed me that
the guns of our armed boats, shattering the crafts
of the brigands, killed and drowned them all. In
truth the floats have done their duty so thoroughly
that very few brigands have crossed the Loire, and
as fast as they attained the left bank they were
slaughtered by our guards at Chateaudeau and
Saint-Florent without any resistance. They swam
across unarmed; not one of them would have
escaped had it not been for the orders of General
Moulin, who thought fit to give several passports
for returning home. I have just given orders for
1 Once across the river, they would be gafe in their own
impregnable Vendée. |
166 CORRESPONDENCE OF
the arrest of this truly guilty General: he is
already replaced.
! Carrier’s dissatisfaction with General Moulin seems to have
had a twofold origin. In a letter to General Turreau (Savary,
Guerres, t. 2, p. 477), Moulin complains that Carrier has had
him replaced for being absent from his post “‘ in accordance with
your orders and those of the Representative Francastel.’’ About
this time Tréhouard arrested Carrier’s agent, Lebatteux, without
giving that Representative warning thereof (hence the furious
letter to Tribout on the subject, for “‘ depreciation of the National
Representation’? was a revolutionary crime almost worthy
capital punishment), and Carrier himself was engaged in his
classical quarrel with the Vincent-la-Montagne Club on the
subject of a certain Garnier, who had demanded promotion, which
the Representative refused on the ground that “a citizen who
had deserted his post was not worthy of promotion.”
Apparently Moulin had appealed to Francastel over Carrier’s
head and this, together with the issue of illegal passports, drew
upon him the order for arrest. He was taken to Nantes and,
according to the Ovateur du Peuple, 28th Vendémiaire, Year 3
(t9th October, 1794), was promptly knocked down by Carrier ,
for his disobedience. At this date Moulin was dead, and the
Ovateur gives no authority for this relation; but in any case no
one who has systematically perused that journal will place much
reliance upon its virulous libels, many of which, even when
dealing with Carrier, can easily be proved to be without founda-
tion. Whether knocked down or no, Moulin seems to have
possessed a somewhat feeble character, as may be deduced by
the terms of the “ arreté ’’ setting him at liberty. ‘‘ Nantes the
. . . Nivése, Year 2. Carrier, Representative of the People, after
having received the good account which his colleagues Prieur of
Marne, Turreau, and Bourbotte, and Turreau, General-in-Chief
of the Army of the West, have given him as to the purity of the
civism of Citizen Moulin, General of Division, Commandant of
the post of S. Florent, the revolutionary principles he has always
professed, and his conduct during the Vendée War: convinced
that, as indeed he has declared, Citizen Moulin has employed
every means ... and that, if he granted passports to some
brigands, it was only to induce the greater number to surrender ;
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 167
On the 28th, Westermann and Adjutant-
General Hector both entered Ancenis by opposite
roads, with small guns. They made a terrific
slaughter of the brigands; the streets of the
commune were heaped with slain. We did not
lose a single man and had only one wounded.
They took eight pieces of cannon from the brigands,
all their powder-waggons and gun-carriages.
On the 29th, Westermann marched to Nort at
ten in the evening. He only captured the village
of Souches, with the cavalry from the Legion of the
North. He found three to four hundred brigands
there and massacred them all. The next day at
five in the morning he attacked Nort. The enemy,
terror stricken, fled before him and took the road
to Blain. Nevertheless he killed several brigands
in Nort and made one hundred prisoners, for
reasons which he has confided to me; he took
about two hundred horses, and informs me that
Larochejacquelin and Stofflet were killed crossing
the Loire.
The defeat of the brigands is so entire that our
men at the outposts kill them, capture them, and
bring them to Nantes by hundreds ; the guillotine
that even so he has caused to be arrested all those to whom he
has delivered passports, raises General Moulin’s arrest; gives
him full and entire liberty ; and enjoins him to return immedi-
ately to his post at S. Florent ”’ (Lallié, J.-B. Carrier, p. 182).
Later, after a severe defeat, Moulin committed suicide, ‘‘ to pre-
vent himself from falling into the hands of the brigands.”’ “‘ Who,”’
Lallié remarks, ‘“‘ had no reason to love him,”
168 CORRESPONDENCE OF
no longer suffices. I have taken it upon myself to
have them shot. They are coming here and to
Ancenis in hundreds; I can promise them the
same fate. I have suggested to my colleague
Francastel not to deviate from these expeditious
and salutary measures. It is a humanitarian
principle with me to purge the earth of the
liberty of these monsters.
The company which has gone to Blain won’t
havea very long march. The column commanded
by General Kléber is at Chateaubriant ; Wester-
mann has the fugitive band in pursuit. All means
of communication, bridges, crafts which might have
faciliated the invasion of Morbihan are shattered,
destroyed, burnt, and the Army so placed on the
left bank of the Vilaine, from the mouth as far
as Vannes, that the brigands cannot possibly unite
with their numerous friends in Morbihan.
On the left bank the state of affairs could
nowise be improved; we have had thirteen or
fourteen successive advantages ; all the marshes
and the whole of the mainland is in the power of
the Republic. Charette is hiding in the woods
with two thousand brigands as cowardly as him-
self. There is only Noirmoutier to be taken now,
and you will soon have news of its capture.
The expedition on the left bank, confided to
General Haxo, covers him with glory, and also
1 Having incurred the dislike of General Turreau, Haxo was
on the point of being dismissed. Carrier refused to transmit this
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 169
General Dutruy and all the brave defenders who
fought under him. Long, long life to the Republic !
A few days more and there will not be a single
brigand on the two banks of the Loire.
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to General Haxo.*
(Entire from Bouchez et Roux, t. 34, p. 169.)
NANTES. Ist Niv6se, Year 2
(21st December, 1793).
You are ordered to burn all the houses of the
rebels, to put their owners to death, and to remove
their subsistences.
The People’s Representative,
CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 9, p. 588. Aulard’s Analysis
of the Archive Analysis.)
NANTES. 2nd Niv6se, Year 2
(22nd December, 1793).
Carrier writes that the marshes and mainland
on the left bank of the Loire are in the power of
the Republic. Westermann has pursued the
notice of dismissal until he had written to the Government, with
the happiest results, for Haxo’s reputation came unscathed out
of the revolutionary crucible.
1 An obvious extract. See also Fr. Grille, La Vendée en 1793,
t. 3, p. 391,
170 CORRESPONDENCE OF
nucleus of the brigand Army to Chateaubriant.
This company has evacuated the station and
marched to Savenay where our united armies
attacked it.
He adds a word on the miracles of the Loire,
which has just again engulfed three hundred and
sixty counter-revolutionists from Nantes, and
that since their disappearance the brigand armies
have been beaten and are in dire need.
Avril and Tribout are at Rédon with large forces.
He does not think the brigands can reach Morbihan.
Letter from the General Kléber to the Representative
Carrver.
(Entire from MSS., Musée Thomas Dobrée, Nantes.)
Liberty. Equality.
MonrToIRE. The 3rd Niv6se,
Of the Second Year of the French Republic
One and Indivisible.
Kléber to Carrier,
It is very gratifying to me, my good friend,
to be able to reply to letters after two victories ;
of which the last gained to-day at Savenay, brings
the war on the right bank of the Loire to a final
conclusion.
On this great day, infinitely more sanguinary
than that of Le Mans, and in which we have
removed from the enemy the whole of his artillery,
I had the advantage of commanding the avant-
garde. Ishould never finish, Carrier, if 1 attempted
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 171
to detail all the fire, all the ardour, and all the
valour of the troops! ... Ah! If only you had
been there! . . . but your colleagues will send
you an account of everything that took place,
since they were witnesses of everything.
You have had the kindness to send me some
cloth to cover my nakedness. I have more need of
it than ever ; I don’t know if it has arrived at the
address I gave you, but I think so....I am
sending you my thanks for it while waiting until
I can talk with you and pay you back with an
infinity of gratitude.
You are no doubt aware that I am carrying
about in my pockets a letter of suspension. It is
the result of a culpable intrigue which I can despise
as easily as I will support with firmness the blows
which may strike me, and which is only provision-
ally suspended, or if you prefer, simply adjourned.
My country will not be the less dear to me on
that account, and were I even plunged in the
direst poverty, to live free or to die will not the
less be my eternal device.
Adieu, Carrier; strike down cowards, strike
down traitors, and protect the innocent.
KLEBER.
Marceau, who commanded us in chief, and who
is made for that, salutes you.
Address: To the CITIZEN CARRIER,
Representative of the People at the
Army of the West. At Nantes,
172 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carrier to General Tribout, General of
Division, at Rédon.*
(Entire from Edouard Lockroy, Une Mission en Vendée, p. 299.)
Liberty. Equality.
The Army of the West.
In the Name of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
NANTES. The 4th Niv6se.
(Year 2) of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible. —
(24th December, 1793.)
Carrier, People’s Representative at the Army of
the West, to General of Division Tribout, at
Rédon.
A second Vendée threatened to set Morbihan
aflame; several districts of the Department
were in open revolt, as you are aware, and had
formed bands which had to be dispersed by armed
force.
Since the brigands were not at that time far
1 This letter may also be found in a somewhat condensed
form in Savary’s Guerres des Vendéens et des Chouans (1825),
t. 2, but the omissions are really important, as it was later made
a crime to Carrier that he had given Le Batteux part of the
“Revolutionary ’’ Army; which he had no right to do. The
garrison of Mayence, however, was at his disposal for purposes
of this kind. Carrier’s claim that he had acted within his rights
does not seem to have been allowed by the Convention. Other
omissions from Savary’s reproduction are less important, but
still interesting.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 173
from Morbihan, the rebellion which broke out
there became more and more dangerous and
alarming. Several bands had indeed been dis-
persed, but there were grounds for dreading their
re-formation at any moment as long as the
leaders were at large. To prevent this occurrence,
I gave Citizen Le Batteux, director of the posts
at Rhédon, a battalion of the garrison of Mayence,
which he was to conduct into the revolting com-
munes of Morbihan, with power to open hostilities
upon any individual found armed against the
Republic, or in counter-revolutionary assemblages.
Le Batteux fulfilled this commission exceedingly
‘well ; no patriot could breathe complaint against
him, nor even the slightest reproach.
Tréhouart, recently summoned to the Convention
as a substitute, entrusted, unknown as he was,
with a mission in his own country, has judged it
proper to arrest Le Batteux, the firmest, purest,
most pronounced Republican of my acquaintance.
But you must have perceived Tréhouart’s
incapacity, and you know him to have supported
and abetted federalists, moderates, and royalists ;
he only needed in addition to harass a brave
patriot and to become protector of the counter-
revolutionists in Morbihan, who wished to form a
second Vendée.
It is by conduct such as Tréhouart’s that the
conspirators of the Right? in the Convention,
1 The Girondins.
174 CORRESPONDENCE OF
among whom Tréhouart would probably have
figured had be been called to the Convention
carlier, have succeeded in increasing the miscreant
horde which has spilt so much blood in the
Vendée.
General Avril, who has concerted in part with
Le Batteux as to his operations, will give you an
account of them.
As for you, I summon you in the name of the
Republic, in the name of the Mountain! upon
which I have always perched, to which the toad?
Tréhouart never climbed, to carry out and
superintend in every detail the order I have just
issued with regard to Le Batteux. I shall at once
denounce Tréhouart to the Committee of Public
Safety and to the National Convention, so that a
recently-appointed deputy who at every moment
compromises the liberty and interests of his
country may be promptly recalled.
Further, I declare my intention of taking a far
more severe measure if Tréhouart takes it into his
head to cause the least hitch or delay in the
execution of my order. Meanwhile, your head
answers for any violence or attempt on the person
or liberty of the brave Citizen Le Batteux. If
1 The Left section of the Convention.
* This is not really a term of abuse. The Centre of the Con-
vention was known as the Plain or Marsh, in contradistinction
to the Right and Left, the Gironde and the Mountain ; frogs or
toads naturally inhabiting marshes, the deputies of the Centre
were generally known by these names.—E.H.C.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 175
Tréhouart gives orders to you or anyone else to
send Le Batteux anywhere but to Nantes, the
head of the person who carries out such an order
shall become responsible to the Republic. Take
warning! It is the purest patriot, the most
pronounced Republican in all Brittany, whom
they have imprisoned. I shall judge the measure
of your Republicanism by the manner in which
you carry out the accompanying order.?
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
Order of Carrier to General Tribout.
4th Nivése. Year 2.
(Entire from Une Mission en Vendée, p. 297.)
Liberty. Equality.
The Army of the West.
In the Name of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
NANTES. The 4th Niv6se,
Of the 2nd Year of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
Carrier, People’s Representative at the Army
of the West, sets Citizen Le Batteux, director of
the posts at Rédon, at liberty ; declares infamous
1 This letter may be found in Savary’s Guerres des Vendéens
et des Chouans, t. 2, in a slightly condensed form.
The Le Batteux quarrel is one of the numerous examples of
dissensions among the Representatives. Carrier’s eulogies of
his agent rose chiefly from his annoyance at Tréhouard, who
176 CORRESPONDENCE OF
the arrest pronounced against him; orders that
he shall be at once set free; declares enemy to
the Republic and traitor to the Fatherland any
individual, no matter his grade, who should dare
to strike at the person and the liberty of this
brave Republican ; forbids General Tribout, any
other chief of the armed forces, the Constituted
Authorities or the Public force to execute any
order curtailing the liberty of the said Le Batteux ;
especially forbids any citizen, in whatever grade
he may serve the Republic, to obey the orders of
Tréhouart, lately called as substitute to the
National Convention, having fulfilled in the worst
possible manner the mission that it has delegated
to him, having constantly declared himself the
partisan of federalists, royalists, moderates, and
counter-revolutionists of the countries through
which he has passed, conduct which the People’s
Representative Carrier, is about to denounce to
the Committee of Public Safety of the National
Convention ; puts Citizen Le Batteux under the
safeguard of every citizen; orders General
Tribout to conduct him to Nantes at liberty, with
an escort, to the People’s Representative Carrier,
had humiliated him by the summary arrest. In the sequel it
transpires that Carrier was only officially acquainted with
Le Batteux, whose ‘‘ mission ” in truth lasted but a few days.
Needless to say, Tribout obeyed these orders, and after a short
sojourn in Nantes, Le Batteux returned to Rédon, where he met
with no kind of reproach, and seems to have “ lived happily ever
after.” ,
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 177
who, putting him under the special protection of
the Republic, makes himself guarantee of the
said Le Batteux to all France. Orders every
chief of the armed force, and particularly General
Tribout, the Constituted Authorities, and every
citizen, to execute and cause to be executed the
present warrant, under penalty of disobedience
to the legitimate authority of the Convention and
of being regarded as persecutor of Republicans,
partisans of counter-revolutionists, and traitors
to the Republic.
The People’s Representative,
CARRIER.'
Carrier to the Procurator-Syndic of the District of
Rhédon.
(Entire from Berriat Saint-Prix, La Justice Révolutionnaire,
p.172. Also Piéces Remises, p. 56.)
In the Name of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
NANTES. 4th Nivése, Year 2, etc.
_ (24th December, 1793.)
Carrier, People’s Representative at the Army of
the West, to the Procurator-Syndic of the
District of Rhédon.
I summon you, Citizen, to put into immediate
execution, in concert with General Tribout, to
1 (Written below Carrier’s signature of this copy, attested
conformable to the original by Binel, Premier sindic [sic] :)
“General Tribout will accompany Citizen Le Batteux to
N
178 CORRESPONDENCE OF
whom I am writing, or with General Avril, the
accompanying order.
The People’s Representative,
CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to the National Convention.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 9, p. 645. Moniteur, t. 9,
p. 57. Bulletin de la Convention National, 6th Nivése,
Year 2.)
NANTES. 4th Nivése. Year 2
(24th December, 1793).
All the brigands on the right bank of the Loire
are at last exterminated. There is no longer a
Catholic-Royalist Army in this part of the
Republic. We attacked them on the 2nd and 3rd
and made such a slaughter of them that we have
not heard a word about them since. There were
few who escaped and these we shall destroy by
beating the woods.
The two combats took place at Savenay ; we
took from them cannon, powder-carts, and
various appointments, and pursuing them as far
as the Vilaine, where the bridges had been
destroyed and the crafts broken up by my orders,
we killed about six thousand of them, the sum
total of their fugitive horde.
Nantes as soon as I have intimated to him the above order, of
which (here is an) attested copy, and will add to the escort, whose
number he will regulate, the gendarmerie of Malestroit.
Rédon, the 5th Nivése, six in the evening of the second year
of the Republic, One and Indivisible.
BINnEL, Premier sindic.”’
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 179
On the left bank we have once more beaten
Charette, at Les Herbiers, and killed three to
four thousand of his brigands. He fled to the
woods in disorder with about three hundred men,
Nantes is illuminated. Cries of ‘‘ Long life to
the Republic! Her Defenders! The Mountain!”
resound on all sides. Joy is universal and inex-
pressible. Oh yes! How long our dear country
will live! Her triumph is assured.
CARRIER.
Committee of Public Safety. 9th Nivése, Year 2
(29th December, 1793).
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 9, p. 744.)
SITTING OF THE QTH NIVOSE, YEAR 2
(29TH DECEMBER, 1793).
Present: B. Barére, Billaud-Varenne, Carnot,
Collot d’Herbois, Couthon, R. Lindet.
Resolution No. 4. Article 4.
The People’s Representatives designed for the
execution of measures of public safety and for the
establishment of the Revolutionary Government
are those in the annexed list.
(Follows the list. Omitted.—E.H.C.)
39. Morbihan. Prieur (of Marne),
40. Loire-Inférieure. Carrier.
(Signed) B. BARERE, BILLAUD-VARENNE,
COLLOT D’HERBOIS, CARNOT. .
180 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter from the Committee of Public Safety to
Carrier.*
(Entire from Arch. Nat. MSS. Rev. Trib. Paris. Analysis.)
(PARIS. 29th December, 1793.)
The Committee of Public Safety to Carrier:
Expresses its confidence in him; gives
him unlimited power; to him all Constituted
Authorities must refer. The Committee can only
give general directions ; he must be responsible
for detail. He must expect and prepare for
opposition.
As far as possible all intermediaries are to be
avoided ; their powers are limited by Article 4,
Sect. 3, of the Law of the 14th Frimaire ;? they
can do no more than carry out his orders. He
must personally supervise and keep a watch over
the District Administrators. He is to keep them
informed of all the circumstances it is advisable
for them to know.
1 It will be seen that this letter is followed by its original.
I give both in continuance of the advisability of checking, where
possible, the nearness of an “ original ’’ and its ‘ analysis.”’
* The Decree of the 14th Frimaire concerned the establishment
of the Revolutionary Government and gave new attributes,
notably to the District Councils and to a functionary of recent
creation, called National Agent.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 181
Letter from the Committee of Public Safety to
Carrier.
(Compiled from Fleury’s Carrier a Nantes, p. 115; and
Recueil des Actes, t. 9, p. 752; t. 10, p. 12, note.) ©
Paris. gth Nivése, Year 2
(29th December, 1793).
The Revolution must now take an independent
and rapid march ; federalism has plunged it into
torpor ; it must be made to awaken, and should—
so to speak—tregenerate itself. The Convention
has felt this and has created the Revolutionary
Government. The Committee of Public Safety
(feels it also), and forwards with the Decree of the
14th Frimaire the Resolution which appoints you
to establish it in Morbihan and Lower-Loire. It
gives you a new witness of its confidence. Let
your activity be equal to it and justify its choice.
Your powers are illimitable, but circumscribed in
the Departments which are entrusted to you.
Everywhere else your activity ceases.
The Constituted Authorities must apply to you
‘ Fleury gives the initial portion of this letter and a few
sentences towards its close. The Recueil (t. 10, p. 12, note)
asserts that a certain letter written to Joseph Le Bon (t. 9, p. 752)
is an identical copy of one to Carrier, of which Aulard makes no
other mention. Of the part given by Fleury (to Carrier) and
Aulard (to Le Bon) in common, I give Fleury’s version of the one
or two variations. Aulard says the letter was a circular sent to
several Representatives. The ‘ Analysis’’ I obtained myself
at the Archives.—E.H.C.
182 CORRESPONDENCE OF
for the solution of all questions connected with the
Revolutionary Government. Advise them of this.
You should possess knowledge of the localities ;
having their affairs under your eyes, you should
understand and judge them.
Being well acquainted with the operations and
movements, the Committee traces their ensemble ;
it gives the impulsion, but it cannot descend to
particular details at a time when general interests
call upon and occupy it.
Intriguers will besiege you; you must strike
them down in the midst of their intrigues. Marked
as they are with the seal of baseness, they are
easy to recognize. Intrigue crawls, whereas
patriotism marches with upturned head.
Secondary agents may be useful, but these
means should be utilized with circumspection ;
when you consider their employment necessary ;
Art. 12, Sect. 3, of the Law of the r4th Frimaire,
determines the power you can entrust to them.
These delegates must confine their operations to
rendering you an account and to the execution
of the measures upon which you have resolved.
You ought personally to supervise the District
Administrators; the nature of their functions
requires this.
Your work will not permit you to visit every
municipality ; you will summon the national
agents of the Communes before you, give them
their instructions and trace out their course.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 183
The Committee charges you henceforward to
pass on to their respective destinations the
different envoys it sends you; this measure, by
simplifying the work, will establish the closest
and daily relations between the Authorities and
the Representatives supervising them.
The Committee requests you to inform it
punctually concerning the place to which your
work may take you whenever you consider it
useful to visit some other district.
CARNOT, PRIEUR,!
COLLOT D’ HERBOIs,
BILLAUD-VARENNE.
Letter of General Beaupuy to the Representative
Carrier.
(Entire from MSS., Musée Thomas Dubrée, Nantes.)
AT Port St. PERE. 11th Nivése.
Year 2 of the Indivisible and
Imperishable Republic.
(31st December, 1793.)
Beaupuy, General, to Carrier, People’s Repre-
sentative.
I was going to Noirmoutier in order to be
a witness of Haxo’s new triumph, but I was
stopped at Machecoul. I could only have been
about a quarter of a league from that place
1 The Prieur in question is obviously he of Céte d’Or, the
other Prieur (of Marne) being away on mission.
184 CORRESPONDENCE OF
when I beheld in front of me men who were in
flight and who were shouting that the brigands
were in the town. Thereupon I hastened forward,
and aided by the Commandant of the post, I
succeeded in rallying them and in putting them
in battle array by the mills, in an advantageous
position. There a sufficiently lively fusillade
sustained by our cannon moderated the impetu-
osity of the enemy, who arrived in two columns
by the road from Chalan! and Peaux. Suddenly
I caught sight of a third column, which to my
very great astonishment was approaching by the
road from Nantes. We were on the point of —
being enveloped, but a clever movement ordered
by the Commandant made them abandon the
chaussée. They threw themselves to the left and
united in one column. |
Our cannon produced much effect, but their
united column after an hour’s fighting forced us
to fall back freely on Port St. Pére.
I suppose the enemy had the intention of
raising our posts one after the other ; also on the
field ovdonnances were despatched by the Com-
mandant of Port St. Pére to Ste. Pazaune and to
Bourgneuf.
Iam here without a mission, as you know, brave
Representative ; but Axo’s? provisions might be
* Challans:
* General Haxo. This General’s name has also been spelt as
Larynx !
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER _ 185
cut off and your colleagues and the Army suffer
thereby ; hence I remain where I am; I will
bivouack until everything is all right again. For
the rest, the brigands were too superior in numbers
for the post, and there is nothing astonishing in
its having been forced to fall back. The Com-
mandant, I saw, did what he could; but be
easy, and the Port St. Pére will remain to the
Republic and Charette will finish as did Le Piron?
and). . .*
Adieu, my brave Representative,
(Yours) in life or death, adieu.
Long live the Republic.
M. BEAUPUY.
Letter of General M arceau. to the People’s
Representative Carrier.
(Entire from MSS., Musée Thomas Dobrée, Nantes.)
Liberty. Equality.
NANTES. 12th Nivése.
Year 2 of the Republic, One and Indivisible.
(At 6 o’clock in the evening.)
The Divisionary General, Marceau, to the People’s
Representative, Carrier.
Ten thousand men are exposed to die of
hunger unless you cause the convoy of sub-
1 Perhaps General Biron, Duc de Lazun, who served in the
Republican Army, but was subsequently guillotined at Paris,
having become “ suspect.”
2 A word illegible, The Archivist has supplied ‘‘ Laufrenier.”’
186 CORRESPONDENCE OF
sistences which you are proposing to send them
to be escorted by two thousand men, commanded
by a brigadier-general.
I most earnestly desire you to take no notice
of the representations that may be made to you,
and that you will request the Commandant of the
Division of the North to furnish the detachment,
without which you are exposing your convoy
either to fail to arrive at its destination, or to
serve as food purveyor for the Army of Charette,
and in consequence to compromise the success of
the Armies of the Republic.
It is only after very serious reflections that I am
proposing this measure, which may be considered
as very decisive. MARCEAU
P.S.—It is urgent for you to give the requi-
sitions to-night, so that the troop may set out
to-morrow at six in the morning.
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 10, p. 20.)
NANTES. 12th Nivése. Year 2
(1st January, 1794).
CITIZEN COLLEAGUES,
The small hordes of brigands on the right
~ bank of the Loire are being exterminated daily.
They are found wandering in the woods, the
villages, and on the river-bank from Nantes to
Angers. In the neighbourhood of Savenay and
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 187 |
Moutier they have all been utterly destroyed.
Some of these scoundrels have enlarged the bands
of Chouans between Vitré and Gravelle; a civic
round of our troops has cleared this accursed
canton of a very large number of them.
This salutary piece of work led to our discovery
of a tremendous conspiracy. My colleagues
Bourbette and Leplanche have doubtless given
you all the details, together with the measures we
took in connection therewith.
You must realize that active surveillance in
Brittany cannot be relaxed for a moment. You
will be profoundly astonished to learn that
federalists raise their heads in conspiracy at
Brest ; that the plan to surrender this port is
renewed ;! that the progress they make is terrific ;
that public spirit at S. Malo is corrupt; that
Saint Servan, of whose Jacobinism I was well
assured, is undermined by the fanaticism of
Constitutional Priests ;2 that Dinan is in open
counter-revolution; that Dol is in the same
condition ; and that Rennes, which I had raised
to the high peak of Revolution, is in a deplorable
state of moderatism and feuillantism.
Laval, Fougéres, and Chateaubriant are only
inhabited by counter-revolutionists who have
1 The “ surrender,’’ of course, being to the English, who had
promised the rising substantial help if a port for landing and
base should be guaranteed.
2 A bitter climax; for if the Constitutional Priest could not
be trusted, then what faith could be placed in any man ?
188 CORRESPONDENCE OF
returned for the most part after following the
brigand Army. There are not indeed quite so
many conspiracies as at Brest ; the plot is not so
widespread, but you may be quite sure that it is
Commissioners and men from that commune who
are organizing it. I have positive information on
this point.
Federalists, counter-revolutionists, swarm in
Vannes. All Morbihan is on the verge of another
rising. In a word, my dear Colleagues, I declare
to you with the utmost certainty that if prompt
measures are not speedily taken, we run the risk
of seeing the birth of a new Vendée, far more
terrible than the one which is even now in the
throes of death.
The declaration of three soldiers made prisoners
at Jersey and delivered up at S. Brieuc confirms
my news that a numerous squadron of English
and émigrés is intending to land on our coasts.
This being the state of affairs I have written to
General Turreau, who is informed of it, and have
suggested to him that it would be advisable in
proceeding with the attack on Noirmoutier already
begun, and of whose happy progress I continue
to inform you, only to allow two or three thousand
men of the Division of the North we are awaiting
to march on the left bank of the Loire ; that there
are already four thousand men of the excellent
Cherbourg Division united to the forces which were
under the orders of Haxo and Dutruy, and that
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 189
there were only two thousand men, the greater
number unarmed and recently recruited, under
Charette, and about seven to eight hundred in the
Forest of Princé.
These forces, well directed, properly led, may
finish the extermination of the brigands, so much
enfeebled, in less than eight days. I am asking
(General Turreau) if it would not be wise to direct
the remainder of the Division of the North to our
coasts, placing it in positions which are favourable
to invasion, such as Cancale, Saint-Malo, and
Brest ; and since the Army of the West, estab-
lished on the right bank, is more than sufficient for
the extermination of the scattered hordes of
brigands in the woods, who suffer depletion daily,
whether a part of it could not be used in the
defence of the sea-board. Meanwhile we have sent
three thousand men to Brest under the orders of
General Tribout.
Weigh these remarks well and the causes that
produce them ; follow up the affairs which ought
to be settled soon.
Recall Bréard and Tréhouard with the same
despatches, and let a special courier bring the
recall. Tréhouard deceives Bréard ;! they are
1 Bréard’s crime was revolutionary weakness and undue
partiality. Carrier was not the only Representative who de-
manded Bréard’s recall. Also Marc-Antoine fullien, at this
time agitating himself greatly about the Tréhouard-Lebatteux
business, with ardent championship of the former, was urging
Bréard’s return to Paris.
190 CORRESPONDENCE OF
both’ in a set of federalists among all the con-
spirators of Morbihan. and Finistére. They allow
all sorts of plots to be hatched under their very
eyes. Tréhouard openly declares himself on the
side of the counter-revolutionists.!_ Send promptly
to Brest a colleague revolutionary in the fullest
sense of the word, and immediately upon his
arrival let all lawyers, merchants, and sailors
suspected of incivism disappear; there is so
splendid a means of doing this !* Without this
measure you must expect consistent and danger-
ous treasons and continual plots.
It would also be advisable to send another good
colleague to Cancale, Dol, and St. Martin, to carry
out the same measures. Don’t let us neglect
Cherbourg. I do not think the forces in that part
are a sufficient protection ; a slight increase would
do. As for the interior of Brittany, in which I
include Lorient, I think a deputy triple-skinned
ought to make a revolutionary round there with
twelve or fifteen hundred of the cavalry. He
should begin by revolutionizing the larger com-
munes, called towns aforetime, and from that,
scouring the country districts, should by well-
planned accidents burn the churches, give effective
chase to all refractory priests who are still there,
1 We shall find later Carrier making a handsome public
apology to Tréhouard for this letter, owning that “it was bad.’’
(Trial of Carrier before Convention.) But Tréhouard had un-
doubtedly meddled in what did not concern him.
2 The Law of Suspects, decreed 17th September, 1793.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 191
and lead forth all the constitutionnels who do
nearly as much harm, purging them of all ci-
devant nobles and “‘ robinocrats ”” who spread the
poison of aristocracy and fanaticism and foment
the spirit of rebellion. The peasants thus isolated,
without churches, tocsin, priests, or squires,
would only think of ploughing their fields and
paying their taxes. The deputy charged with this
mission might turn out the Pétions, Buzots, and
others. I believe them to be in a corner of
Brittany not far from Quimper, with that guilty
one Kervélégan, whatever may be said.
There are still some vigorous measures to be
carried out at Chateau-Gonthier, Laval, Fougéres,
and surrounding communes. In addition, the
Chouans must be pursued and the forest, which is
their protection, must be turned into (artillery)
parks. Let these proposals be carried out to the
letter and punctually ; every anxiety with regard
to Brittany will then be calmed. You need have
no fear on account of Nantes; for some time she
has supplied means for prosecuting the war in the
Vendée, but this commune will never again
commit such a crime—she keeps in step with the
Revolution.
My colleagues Prieur (of Marne), Bourbotte,
and Turreau have gone to the attack on Noir-
moutier ; I will inform you, and that speedily, of
the result, for you must have perceived that I am
rarely deceived, the things of which I warn you
192 CORRESPONDENCE OF
are fulfilled to the letter, that news I send you
bears the hall-mark of truth.
Adieu, brave Colleagues ; a few days more and
all conspirators of the interior will be annihilated
or reduced to an incapacity too utter to be harmful.
Greeting, fraternity, friendship,
CARRIER.
Letter from Dutruy, Commander of the Division of
Les Sables, to People’s Representative, Carrier.
(Entire from Wallon, Les Représentanis en Mission, t. 1, p.289.)
NOIRMOUTIER. 37d January, 1794.
Victory, Comrade! No details! I am tired
out and have gone to bed in Noirmoutier ! We've
got the whole place, every stick and stone;
Delbée, Dubois, Thingi, Dhautrive, Massip,! all
these notorious villains are under lock and key,
and the razor? will finish the féte.
From Isle Marat.* 14th Nivdése.
DuTRUY.
1 Duhoux d’Hautrive, brother-in-law of D’Elbée, formerly
Chevalier of Saint Louis, and General of a band of brigands ;
. . - René-Henri Tinguy, formerly Governor of Ile Noirmoutiers ;
. . . Bernard Mussys, commanding the brigand troops in the
Isle when the soldiers of the Republic entered it; Benjamin
Dubois, formerly noble, nominated Commandant of the Place of
Noirmoutiers for Louis XVII (Moniteuy, t. 19, p. 193).
2 The guillotine.
* That is, Ile Noirmoutier, named Marat by Prieur, Bourbotte,
and Turreau. Subsequently these three Representatives gave
it the still more Republican name of La Montagne, while Ile
Bouin received the name of Marat.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 193
Letter from Carrier to a Member of the Council-
General of the Commune of Pans.
(Entire from the Journal de la Montagne, No. 58.
21st Nivése, Year 2.)
(The letter from Dutruy has been sent to Paris and was read
at the Council-General of the Commune. Carrier’s covering
letter is given as follows, p. 459 :)
Here are other details given by Carrier :
‘“‘ Forty pieces of cannon taken, thirty milliers of
sugar, and Delbée at the death agony! I cannot
write you more: the post is waiting.”’
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 10, p. 66. Moniteur, t. 19,
p. 161. Bulletin de la Convention Nationale, Séance du
19 Nivése.)
NANTES. 15th Nivdse
(4th January, 1794).
I hasten to announce the capture of the island
and commune of Noirmoutier by the Republican
troops ; I will send you the details as soon as I
receive them.
I have to announce also that Charette, who had
recruited his band from Les Herbiers to Machecoul
and had captured the latter, was driven from it
by part of the Cherbourg Division on the 13th,
especially by the brave defenders of the Republic
known as the Armagnac Regiment, who made
0
194 CORRESPONDENCE OF
two or three hundred brigands bite the dust.
Will their priests save them from the speedy death
which threatens them ?
CARRIER.
Letter from Carrier to the General Commanding the
Division of the North (Duquesnoy ?).
(Entire'from MSS., Musée Thomas Dobrée, Nantes.)
The Army of the West.
In the Name of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
NANTES. 16th Nivése.
2nd Year of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
(5th January, 1794.)
Carrier, People’s Representative at the Army of
the West. To the General Commanding the
Division of the North.
You are not ignorant, General, that there are
in Nantes other troops besides those under your
orders, and that they are loudly demanding to be
allowed to march against the brigands in order to
complete their discomfiture. There is at this
moment a most favourable opportunity for satis-
fying their ardour.
You will see by the letter of the Commandant of
the post of Port-St. Pére, of which I am having a
copy sent to you, that this post is badly threatened
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 105
and that there are not nearly sufficient forces to
oppose the numbers of brigands who are on the
point of attacking it. In addition, I warn you
that if this post should be taken by the enemy,
those of Leger and St. Philibert will run the same
danger. I therefore invite and request you in the
name of the Republic to send out of Nantes the
entire remainder of your division, and to subse-
quently send part to the post of Port-St. Pére,
part to that of Leger, and part to that of St.
Philibert. In consequence, you will give forth-
with the most stringent orders so that your
division can depart to-morrow at six o’clock in
the morning in order to march rapidly in three
columns to the three posts I have just indicated
to you.
I am putting on your responsibility and making
your head answerable for every adverse occurrence
which might result from any delay, and every
success the brigands might obtain against our
posts by your negligence.
Greeting and fraternity,
The Representative of the French People,
CARRIER.
196 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carrier to the Convention.
(Entire from MSS., Musée Thomas Dobrée, Nantes.)
NANTES. 17th Niv6se.
Year 2 of the French Republic.
(6th January, 1794.)
Carrier, People’s Representative at the Army of
_the West. To the National Convention.
CITIZENS MY COLLEAGUES,
Noirmoutier is taken! (In that Isle) the
tricolour standard now replaces the white flag!
Fifty brigands have perished; about twelve
hundred are prisoners; 8-10 chiefs are of the
number ; among others are the scoundrels Delbée
[sec] and M. Durand, Curvé of Bourgneuf, signer of
the assignats in the Royal Treasury.
We have taken 30 pieces of cannon, 800 guns,
a large quantity of munitions of war and of mouth.
Our troops have shown the greatest intrepidity.
I cannot give you any other details.
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
Letter of Carrier to General Dufour.
(Entire from Archives Nationales, W. 490. 2nd Part,
Piece 3. See also Chassin, La Vendée Patriote, t. 4,
pp. 197-198.)
NANTES. 19th Nivése
(8th January, 1794).
Continue, Comrade, to serve the Republic and
to execute my orders. You complain of denuncia-
°
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 107
tions which have been made against you by my
colleague Laignelot. It is quite true he has heard
something against you ; but who, in stormy times
like the present, can avoid being the object of
denunciations and especially delations ? For the
rest, be easy ; I have followed your work closely ;
I know your courage, your military talents, your
civism ; I will render justice to you and will
always make it a duty to do so.
Burn, burn continually ; this is the wish of the
Convention, but be very careful to save the
buildings which are storehouses for provisions
or forage.
I am sending you four hundred pairs of shoes
for the brave defenders of the Republic who fight
under your orders: give them the fraternal kiss
and receive mine. It is offered you by a good
Republican who despises informers (délation), who
knows how to appreciate denunciations, the
individuals who make them, those to whom they
are addressed, and who does not hesitate to give
you his esteem.!
CARRIER.
+ Carrier was amply repaid later for his interference when
“his colleague Laignelot ’’ bestowed upon him in his disgrace
the title of ‘‘ The Tiger of the West.”
198 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter from Carner, Bourbotte, and Turreau, to the
Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recuwetl des Actes, t. 10, p. 203. Aulard’s
Analysis.)
NANTES. 24th Nivése, Year 2
(13th January, 1794).
(Received 2nd February.)
Carrier, Bourbotte, and Turreau send copies of
various nominations they consider should be made
in favour of some officers who deserve this reward
for several acts of bravery and patriotism, as well
as their military talents.
Letter of General Kléber to the Representative
Carrier.
(Entire from Noél Parfait, Le General Marceau, p. 328.)
CHATEAUBRIANT. 24th Nivése, Year 2
(13th January, 1794).
Marceau is very ill and I have just sent to
Rennes for a doctor. I am very much affected by
this accident ; no one more than myself appre-
ciates this young warrior.
My dear Carrier, in what has been left to me of
my division I have scarcely twelve hundred men,
who are naked, naked, naked! I implore you to
have made for them a vast supply of soldiers’
great-coats of stout material, and a quantity of
grey gaiters. KLEBER.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 199
Letter from Carrier, Turreau, and Bourbotte, to the
Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes; t. 10, p. 249. Aulard’s
Analysis.)
NANTES. 25th Nivése, Year 2
(14th January, 1794).
3 (Received 28th February.)
Carrier, Turreau, and Bourbotte announce that
Charette has no more than six to seven hundred
brigands, badly armed and without cannon, in his
train. Cathelineau has a like number, and is ina
similar condition, hiding in the woods. Laroche-
jacquelin, supposed to be dead, is making fruitless
efforts to recruit near Cholet, while measures are
being taken near the coasts to cut off his retreat.
Several columns are under orders to surround
this district. They apostrophize the Commis-
sioners of the Executive Power.
Letter to Carrier from the Committee of General
Security.
(Arch. Nat. MSS., F. 4422. Police-General, ist Part.)
Committee of General Security.
Revolutionary Committee of Nantes.
1794. Year 2.
Department of Loire-Inférieure.
Resolution of the Committee of General Security
to bring to immediate trial the 110 Nantais
arrived in Paris,
200 CORRESPONDENCE OF
27th Nivése, 1794.
Year 2 of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
The Representatives of the French People com-
posing the Committee of General Security :
To Citizen Carrier, People’s Representative,
attached to the Army of the Coasts of
Cherbourg, at Nantes.
The Public Prosecutor attached to the Revolu-
tionary Tribunal desires to know if we have
received the papers concerning the 1101 Nantais
sent to Paris. We have not received them all and
think they may have been suppressed or removed.
Ten or twelve of these individuals have died from
epidemic. We think all cannot be equally guilty
and some may be innocent, and humanity and
justice compel us to pronounce speedily upon
their fate. The malady in the prisons is spreading ;
we ought to bring them to their trial as speedily as
possible.
The People’s Representatives in Committee.?
1 The remnant of the Cent-Tvente-Deux.
2 The Notables of Nantes.
The generally accepted view of this affair is that Carrier, from
motives of various kinds, ‘‘as federalists ’’ (Mignet), ‘‘ because
they had denounced him ”’ (Lamartine)—though it is difficult to
say why, seeing that they had left the town before Carrier’s
administrative life in it had well begun—“‘to feed the Paris
guillotine’’ (Acton), etc., had these notables arrested and sent
to Paris for the purpose of getting rid of them. But Villenave,
the very efficient ‘‘ pen ’’ of the party, was arrested on September
17th, a number of others between that date and November rath
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 201
Letter of General Kléber to the People’s Representative,
Carrier.
(Entire from MSS., Musée Thomas Dobrée, Nantes.)
Liberty. Equality.
Or Oblivion.
CHATEAUBRIANT. 29th Nivoése.
Year 2 of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
(18th January, 1794).
Kléber to the People’s Representative, Carrier.
You alone, my friend, were capable of this
proceeding, because you alone, in the position you
occupy, knew how to open your heart to friend-
ship and confidence without fear of compromising
(Carrier’s official residence in Nantes began November 5th,
though not his work, for he seems to have been in the doctor’s
care for several days), by the orders of the Revolutionary Com-
mittee of Nantes, to which Gillet had given unlimited powers for
issuing mandates of arrest. These may be read in the journals of
the Thermidorian Reaction, in the printed minutes of the meetings
of the Constituted Authorities of Nantes, and in MSS. in the
National Archives. The deportation was decided upon by the
Revolutionary Committee of Nantes before Carrier’s work in
the town had begun, and at a meeting at which he was not
present (24th Brumaire). When all the arrangements for depar-
ture were made, the order was brought to Carrier as Gillet’s
successor to sign, and the party started out the next morning
at seven. Phélippes Tronjolly owns that the arrests were due
to the Committee’s desire to “‘ satisfy their murderous activity ”’
(Phélippes to the Convention, MSS., Arch. Nat.), which is con-
firmed by the letters of Goullin, the evidence of the Notables
(Rélation), and Carrier at the trial, (Moniteur, t. 22.)
202 CORRESPONDENCE OF
the common weal. How petty are these indi-
viduals who imagine they cannot save it or serve
it except by closing their hearts to all sentiments
of humanity! Carrier, I shall be eternally attached
to you and, you may be very sure, your action has
transported and overjoyed me. I tell myself ‘‘ He
would do for you what he has just done for my
friend.’”’ Marceau is now saved, he is perfectly
cured ; he has rejoiced my heart for two days.
He leaves to-morrow for Rennes and [I shall be
alone. Will intrigue still give me a secret thrust ?
I do not know; but I shall always be strong in
my conscience, and then, are you not there ?
I embrace you,
KLEBER.!
1 On information given by certain jealous Generals—notably
the General-in-Chief Turreau—-Generals Haxo, Tilly, Kléber and
Marceau were at one time or another on the point of being dis-
missed by the Committee of Public Safety. They all owed their
continuance in the service to Carrier’s championship. Of Haxo,
greatly praised in the correspondence, mention has been made
already (see p. 168 n.). Tilly was a ci-devant, and Marceau came
under Turreau’s displeasure for winning too many battles, and
for rescuing a young Vendéenne, Mdlle. Mesliers, a fugitive
from the Catholic-Royal Army. On January 2nd, Carrier
effected a reconciliation between Generals Turreau and Marceau,
at his own house (Savary, Guerves), and Turreau wrote to the
Committee of Public Safety on the 29th Nivdése saying that on
Carrier’s recommendation he had decided to look upon Marceau’s
‘* thoughtlessness ’’ as the fault of extreme youth (Recwuezi).
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 203
Letter of General Marceau to the Representative
Carrer.
(Entire from MSS., Musée Thomas Dobrée, Nantes.)
Liberty. Equality.
CHATEAUBRIANT. 209th Nivése.
Year 2 of the Republic, One and Indivisible.
(18th January, 1794.)
Marceau to his friend, Carrier.
In expressing my grateful thanks to you I
cannot use the ordinary terms; for I must tell
you quite plainly that I shall never forget this
mark of attention, and that my thanks and my
friendship for you have no limits. Always think
of me in the same way as you do to-day and I
shall esteem myself very happy.
I have just obtained a congé to go home. I
expect to leave for Rennes in a few days. The
one thing which above all others would have
compensated me for what I do not possess, both
for restoring my health and se:tling my affairs,
would have been without doubt the pleasure of
being able to pass the winter with our good
friend Kléber. He deserves to be regretted ; his
amenity, everything, in short, that can be gained
from a society as virile as lovable, makes me feel
I want to be near him ; I will do all that lies in my
power to make my next campaign with him, and
I candidly confess that the Republic will not be
—
204 CORRESPONDENCE OF
badly served thereby. Come and see him, you
will please him so much, and I am very sure you
will not regret having passed a few days with a
good sans-culotte! who loves you well. Yes, indeed,
we all love you greatly.
I am no longer the least. bit ill; happily there
was no fear from the first ; so no more anxiety on
this head. May you keep your health; it is a
very precious thing ; the Devil take me but there
are still conspirrrrators? about, and good fellows
(bougres) are needed to destroy them, that is to
say, men like ourselves. Yes, my friend, together
we will serve the Republic, and we may count on
successes while it is served by men as single-
hearted (furs) and sincerely desirous of their
Country’s welfare as we are.
Adieu; I love you, and Long life to the
Republic ! MARCEAU.
Leiter from the Committee of Public Safety to
Carrier.
(Entire from Recuetl des Actes, t. 10, p. 361.)
PARIS. 2nd Pluvibse, Year 2
(21st January, 1794).
One hundred and ten prisoners, Citizen
Colleague, have been sent from Nantes to the
1 Kléber was of peasant parentage—Marceau belonged to the
lower orders of the aristocracy.
2 A possible sly allusion to Carrier’s well-known difficulty in
pronouncing the letter ‘‘r.’’ This defect in the Representative’s
articulation was frequently a cause for pleasantry.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 205
prisons of Paris to satisfy the national justice. The
Revolutionary Tribunal was about to draw up the
instruction, but the papers and the information
are missing. Hasten, therefore, to forward at
once the necessary explanations. The Sword of the
Law is suspended ; impatient, it awaits the guilty,
whom it perhaps would have been more worth
while to have punished on the spot to obtain the
best results from the example.’
1 In this connection here are three extracts of interest :
(a) Trial of Carrier before Convention (Moniteur, t. 22, p. 559).
Order of Carrier, II Pluviédse. ‘‘ He has requested (from the
Revolutionary Committee of Nantes) motives for the arrest of
all suspected individuals detained at Nantes, and of those who
have been sent to Paris.’’ Carrier: I do not think that is a
crime.
(6) Account rendered by the Revolutionary Committee of
Nantes of the motives of arrest of the Notables (Arch. Nat. MSS.,
F. 4422). Sent to the Committee of General Security, 27th
Pluviése (5th Feb., 1794). That they were anti-Montagnards,
ex-monks, ex-nobles, émigrés, ex-priests, monopolists, anarchists,
federalists, impostors, knaves, stock-jobbers, envagés, fanatics.
Some of them were more particularly denounced as being an
ex-monk who only took the oath to the Republic at the last
moment to escape a just punishment on seeing the patriots’
triumph ; for daring to say that the people were no freer under
the new regime than under the old; for being an egotist and a
muscadin ; a counter-revolutionary and an agent of émigrés, and
worthy by these opinions to figure among these monsters; a
frenzied anti-clubist ; for being abhorred both for fanaticism
and hatred of equality; for having worn the black cockade in
public; for being an assistant hawker of a sacerdotal petition
which would kindle civil war; for disapproving of the death of
Capet ; for being a hawker of an incendiary memorial in favour
of unsworn priests; for haughtiness and suspicion of having
206 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carrier to General Dutruy.
(Entire from La Vendée Pairiote, t. 4, p. 197.)
Liberty. Equality.
In the Name of the French Republic.
Carrier, Representative of the French People at
the Army of the West, to General Dutruy.
NANTES. 374 Pluvidse, Year 2
(22nd January, 1794).
Considering that the Commune of Les Sables?
is exposed to the insults of interior enemies ; that
the fortifications have been neglected ; that public
spirit is far from being at revolutionary level,
given funds to the Vendée ; for being a relation of brigands and
a brigand himself; for being suspected of having favoured the
distribution of false assignats; while Villenave figures in the
list as ‘the secretary of the guillotined Bailly, and therefore
eminently guillotinable.’”” Another is denounced as “an anti-
Maratist, a madman (forcené), a protector of aristocrats,” and
yet another as ‘‘an enraged anti-Montagnard, trumpeting
federalism everywhere, and thundering against the ‘days’ of
the 31st May, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd June ”’ ; the formidable impeach-
ment closing with ‘“‘a muscadin, royalist, sworn enemy of the
people’s clubs, an enemy of equality, an egotist and feuillant !”’
(c) Résumé of a letter sent to the Public Prosecutor of Paris
by the Revolutionary Committee of Nantes, in answer to his
objection that the above indictment consisted of ‘‘ epithets and
vague qualifications.”’ ‘“‘To ask us for papers of conviction
against the Nantais sent to your tribunal, charges more con-
clusive, facts more precise against these people so evidently guilty,
is to wish to reduce us to impossibility, is to wish to slacken the
Revolutionary measures,’’ etc. (Bull, Rev. Tvib.).
1 For the Les Sables affair, see pp. 163, 164, note.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 207
Puts that place in a state of siege ;
Enjoins the Temporary Commandant at once
to see that the works at the fortifications neces-
sary for the defence are begun and continued
without intermission, and makes him responsible
for all mishaps arising from delay or negligence at
the fortifications.
The People’s Representative,
CARRIER.
The General charged in concert with Haxo with
the defence of the Coasts of the West, from the
Vilaine to Les Sables inclusive: Dutruy.
Letter from the Committee of Public Safety to
Carrier.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 10, p. 419.)
Paris. 5th Pluvidse, Year 2
(24th January, 1794).
Maintain the execution of the Law of the 14th
Frimaire, Citizen Colleague, and the agents of the
Executive Council will no longer with impunity
shackle your operations. The Law? determines
their functions in a very precise manner. They
1 Carrier has already complained of the agents of the Executive
Power, who “set themselves up as little gods and commit all
manner of ineptitudes,’’ but the National Agents appointed by
the Law of the 14th Frimaire were no great improvement, and
later proved a source of much annoyance to the Committee of
Public Safety by virtue of their illegal operations and frauds.
208 CORRESPONDENCE OF
should confine themselves to the Execution of the
Revolutionary measures and the resolutions taken
by the Executive Council.
The object of their mission will be stated in
precise terms in their mandate. They cannot
diverge from the limits traced out for them
(Section ITI, Article 12).1_ The same Law places
them immediately under the hand of the People’s
Representative ; they should give him an exact
account of their operations (Section III, Article
14).
Such is, Citizen Colleague, the table of duties
which the Law prescribes to the agents of the
different Constituted Authorities. Their mission
should confine itself to an exact and continued
surveillance.
Every mandate which does not rigorously
conform to the Law is mul; he who uses it is a
criminal: he should be arrested ; his first duty
is to study the law and to know it. He who, with
a valid mandate, overpasses its limits, arrogates
to himself a right which the law forbids him ; he
violates it ; he is reprehensible.
The legislator has foreseen everything, calculated
everything ; one step further, the equilibrium
is destroyed; henceforward confusion; hence-
forward the hindrances of which we complain to
you. ,
Invested with illimitable powers, it is for you
1 See Recueil, t. 9, p. 154.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 209
to do justice to unfaithful and guilty mandatories ;
where you discover error, enlighten it ; malevo-
lence, crime—strike.
Greeting and fraternity,
The Members of the Committee charged
with the Correspondence,
CARNOT, BILLAUD-VARENNE.?!
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 10, p. 496. Aulard’s
Analysis.)
NANTES. oth Pluvidse, Year 2
(28th January, 1794).
(Received 5th February.)
Carrier informs the Committee that new suc-
cesses have been won by the defenders of the
Republic against Charette’s infamous band. This
chief has been seriously wounded; he would
have been seized in a mill at Machecoul if a
battalion which ought to have surrounded it had
come to the spot a little earlier. Measures have
been taken to make sure of this scoundrel and his
band ; he has in particular formed a secret plan
for the capture of Charette himself.
1 This letter seems to be a circular common to all the Repre-
sentatives charged by the Resolution of the Committee of the
gth Nivése with the organization of the Revolutionary Govern-
ment in the Departments. (Gist of Aulard’s note.)
P
210 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of Carrier to the Commitice of Public Safety.’
(Entire from Wallon, Les Représentants en Mission, t. 4, p. 431.)
NANTES. 9th Pluvidse, Year 2
(28th January, 1794).
I believe I can assure you to-day more than
ever that although these notorious villains? know
all the paths, corners, innermost recesses of the
insurgent countries ; their criminal existence will
soon be over. All our troops, arranged in several
columns very near each other, will to-day begin a
general and simultaneous movement through the
revolted districts, searching all woods, forests,
hiding-places, so. that the scattered brigands,
pressed upon from all parts at the same moment,
will no longer find any asylum and will be attacked,
repulsed, killed, everywhere at once. This move-
ment will last till the whole of the revolted country
has been thoroughly searched, and all the brigands
destroyed.
The plan? appears to me very well contrived and
iikely to attain perfectly the object of our most
ardent wish—the total destruction of the brigands.
Besides these great measures, I have taken a
secret one to secure the person of Charette. I
1 Both Aulard’s Analysis and Wallon’s entire reproduction
are given. The former contains no mention of the ‘‘ Parade.”’
2 Namely, the brigands.
8 Carrier is here reporting the beginning of General Turreau’s
‘“‘ Military Parade,’ arranged by the Commander-in-Chief and
the Representatives Bourbotte, Turreau, and Francastel.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER air
have confided it to the care of a citizen! of Nantes
capable of daring everything. In a few days’
time I shall know the results and will send you
word of them. How I long to hear of the death of
this great brigand and of the last of those others
who still pollute the soil of the Republic !2» How
it will rejoice me to send you news of this!
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.
Letter to Carrier from the Club of Vincent-la-
Montagne, Nantes.
(Entire from Piéces Remises a4 la Commission des Vingt et Un,
p. 40. Original Print, British Museum.)
NANTES. oQth Pluvidse.
Year 2 of the Republic, One and Indivisible.
(28th January, 1794.)
The Revolutionary Club of Vincent-la-Montagne,
Sitting at Nantes: To Citizen Carrier, Repre-
sentative of the French People, greeting and
fraternity.
CITIZEN REPRESENTATIVE,
A report is current that there is no more
Vendée ; yet the soil of liberty is still stained by
brigands ; it is even said that they have dared a
1 Probably Guillaume Lambertye, who had at some time
lived with Charette, and thus considered himself peculiarly fitting
to effect his capture.
2 Probably the fugitive Girondins, not all of whom were
captured. Carrier’s original “‘ mission ’’ was partly ‘‘ to secure
these traitors.”
212 CORRESPONDENCE OF
further atrocious attempt on the lives of the
brave defenders of liberty. The patriots’
anxieties are renewed, and public rumour
strengthens them—perhaps ill-wishers have an
interest in spreading about these rumours, and it
is a further resource of our enemies.
Carrier, you have told the patriots of Vincent-
la-Montagne that they should only hear the
brigands spoken about by their deaths; and
to-day we are told that an army of brigands
occupies several communes! Charette, it is said,
uses cruelty as a weapon, . . . Carrier, you who
have the confidence of the sans-culottes, you who ©
have contributed so much to the success of our
armies, it remains with you to crown your work,
in short, to bring the Vendean War to an end.
Let your whole energy be employed in terminating
this dreadful war ; we demand this of you in the
name of the public safety, and we are sure that
we do not demand it in vain.
Representative, explain to men that the
Republic pays them to destroy the brigands, that
it desires them to do so, and that it regards as
traitors all those who wish to prolong this war.
Ease our anxieties as to the rumours that are
being spread about ; you will thereby oblige your
friends and your brothers of Vincent-la~-Montagne.
DECHERGUE (ainé), President ;
HovupDET, MICHEL, SAMUEL,
and MINIHI, Secretaries.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 213
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 10, p. 520.)
NANTES. 10th Pluviédse, Year 2
(29th January, 1794).
(Received 14th February.)
CITIZEN COLLEAGUES,
You have just delegated to me the task of
establishing the Revolutionary Government in the
Department of the Loire-Inférieure and Morbihan,
together with my colleague Prieur, of Marne.
As in all others that have been entrusted to me,
I will employ in this mission energy and firmness,
but I warn you that my health is greatly under-
mined by the painful toil my work has not ceased
to demand. Prieur, Bourbotte, Turreau, Fran-
castel, and Leplanche are on the point of being
confined to bed—they may be there already,
weary and ill as they are. I am in the same
condition. I would not think of it, I would die
working if this infernal Vendean War gave any
anxiety, but as there are only scattered hordes of
brigands to destroy, I am going to take fifteen
days’ rest in Nantes to recover my health and
vigour. This short interval will not prevent me
from keeping a watch over everything, have no
fear on that account.
It is impossible at the present time to set up the
1 See p. 179. The order has been a month upon its way.
214 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Revolutionary Government on the left bank of the
Loire. This can only be organized when there are
no more brigands.
As soon as my health is re-established and my
lungs have gained new force, I will run through the
districts on the right bank and then through all
Morbihan ; be well assured that I shall establish
the Revolutionary Government in them, pro-
ceeding with that activity and unity of action
which you must expect from it or you can have no
hope of anything from it in this part of the
Republic.
There are only two things which cause me any
anxiety ; the choice of agents and the destruction
of fanaticism ; but by careful search entrusted to
good patriots I hope to find national agents worthy
of our confidence. |
As for fanaticism, one can only give prominence
to crime while liberty is left to the different cults ;
it must be uprooted and destroyed indirectly
without appearing to deal a heavy blow; then
there is a more favourable circumstance which,
well managed and carefully presented, can and
must give the final blow to this pest ;\—the
hatred which all the peasants have for the ci-
devant constitutional priests.2_ Should they begin
to understand that they can do without them,
i That is, fanaticism.
2 Become “ ci-devant ’’ since the institution of the Goddess
of Reason as tutelary divinity.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 215
they would let them go without a murmur of
regret. How I shall profit by this residue of
Machiavellism!! I am going to write to Prieur
that he may help in these operations.
My colleague Leplanche tells me that he cannot
accept the mission? you have given him to
revolutionize Finistére and Cétes-du-Nord. Grant
him a few days’ rest and beware of replacing him.
How well he will do this work! If he cannot
possibly accept, entrust the work to some one as
revolutionary as he is. I know and am well
known in these two departments. You will
singularly injure the Republic if you give the
mission to anyone whose principles are not well-
pronounced. I have promised myself and I have
promised the Convention not to return until such
a time as when the whole of Brittany is keeping
revolutionary step.
How is it that Tréhouard is still at Brest?
Give Laignelot a colleague who can efficiently
help him, a Montagnard before whom men will
tremble ; I ask this in the name of the Public
Safety.
Greeting, fraternity, friendship,
CARRIER.
1 Carrier’s reflections (p. 190) bear a similar stamp of ‘‘ Mach-
iavellism.”’
* The Committee’s order of the 9th Nivése (see p. 179) deputed
Leplanche (No. 34) to Finistére and Cdétes-du-Nord, for the
purpose of establishing the Revolutionary Government in them,
One might note the 1794 meaning of the word “ revolutionize.”
216 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter from the Popular Society of Vincent-la-
Montagne, to the People’s Representative, Carrier.
(Entire from Piéces Remises. Original Print, British Museum.)
2th Pluvibse, addressed 13th Pluvi6dse.
(31st January, 1794.)
The Republican Society of Vincent-la-Montagne,
Sitting at Nantes: To the Citizen Carrier,
Representative of the French People.
CITIZEN REPRESENTATIVE,
The Club of Vincent-la-Montagne, justly
alarmed at the delay experienced in bringing the
War in the Vendée to a conclusion, has com-
municated to you its anxieties by writing and you
have made no reply !
(The Club) learning that the mission which the
National Convention has confided to you has
affected your health, and this at a time when the
patriots are being slaughtered by the brigands,
who gather new forces, sends to you five or six of
its members! to inquire after your health and to
1 The ill-will of the Club is evident from the persons chosen
for the deputation. They were Thomas, the Health Officer, who
had acrimoniously supported the complaints of a certain Garnier,
whom Carrier had dismissed for absence from duty ; Moquet,
who had had hostile dealings with Le Batteux; Forget, one-time
President of the Club and present concierge of one of the prisons
of Nantes, who boasted a public rebuke he had delivered to the
Proconsul over a matter of grain; Champenois, a worker in
pewter, to whose ill-timed advice upon every subject Carrier
had appeared supremely indifferent; and Leger, of whom [|
know nothing,
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 217
confer with you as to the means of putting an end
to its anxieties on the fate of a war which com-
promises the public safety.
How are they received at your house, these free
men who believe themselves your friends and
brothers? Your door is closed to them and a
secretary! unfaithful in his reports, tell them
that were they patriots ENRAGES,? come from
the devil and hell, they could not speak to
you ;* moreover, that even the Generals were
not received at the house of the People’s Repre-
sentative !
However, they had to confer with you con-
cerning great measures necessary to ensure the
capture of the infamous but redoubtable Charette, |
and upon what, perhaps, would have accelerated
the destruction of the other scoundrels who
compose his force. But the difficulty of approach-
ing you has prevented them from so doing and in
default of being able to confer with you at a
favourable time they have been forced, to their
regret, to allow to slip by the most happy occasion
1 Bonneval. This secretary seems to have been anxious to
obtain for Carrier some private time for resting, hence the present
incident and the denunciation levied at him by young Jullien
on a future occasion.
2 Or ultra-revolutionists. This incident became one of the
eighty-three “‘ counts”’ against Carrier in Convention eleven months
later. His defence was that he could hardly be held responsible
for what his secretary chose to say. A better defence would have
been reference to his own known illness.
® See p. 213. The “cure”’ had evidently begun.
218 CORRESPONDENCE OF
that one could find for securing the person of this
very great criminal.!
The Club of Vincent-la-Montagne has sworn to
preserve the commune of Nantes, its port and
neighbouring coasts to the Republic; it desires
also that the brigands shall be totally destroyed
and exterminated ; and it is on this account that
it has charged certain Commissioners to take all
the measures necessary for bringing this about.
Representative, the sans-culottes must con-
tinually communicate to each other their views
and their fears, and we well believe that you
rejoice only when you find yourself in their midst ;
we urge you, therefore, to communicate easily and
without intermediary with the Commission which
has our confidence.
Letter of Carrier to Turreau, General-in-Chief
of the Army of the West.
(Entire from Savary, Guerres des Vendéens et des Chousans.)
NANTES. 14th Pluvidse.
(2nd February, 1794.)
I send you notice, General, that a brigade
belonging to General Cordellier, under the orders
of an Adjutant-General named Flavigny, has
1 Another of the eighty-three ‘‘counts.” But Carrier was
already acquainted with the affair and taking steps for Charette’s
capture (see p. 209). However, this ‘‘ count’ remained against
Carrier, for reasons hardly obvious,
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 219
found a muster of brigands upon its road; that
at the first sight of these scoundrels our brigade
fled without firing a shot ; and that it has fallen
back on Nantes and positively wished to enter the
town yesterday evening. Entry was refused and
Vimeux gave it the order to return to Leroux this
evening.
The Adjutant-General complains of the soldiers,
and the soldiers complain of the Adjutant-General.
Too ill to investigate this truly inconceivable
rout, I leave the matter in your hands. Punish,
punish, I urge you, traitors and cowards. It is
astonishing, it is humiliating, that Republicans
should have cowardly taken to flight before a
muster of brigands without artillery and of whom
the greater number had no guns. Justice, severe
justice !
Carrier asks for his Recall: Sitting of the
Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 10, p. 725.)
(PARIS.) 18th Pluvidse, Year 2
(6th February, 1794).
Present : Couthon, Barrére, Carnot, C.-A. Prieur,
Saint - Just, Billaud-Varenne, Collot
d’Herbois, Jeanbon Saint-André, and
R. Lindet.
Art. 4. Resolution 5.
It will be proposed to the National Convention
220 CORRESPONDENCE OF
to have Carrier, who asks for his recall,! replaced
by another Representative; Prieur (of Marne)
will be instructed to replace him. The report upon
Westermann’s conduct shall be made as quickly
as possible.
Carnot. (In Carnot’s hand-writing.)
Letter from the Committee of Public Safety to
Carrier.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 10, p. 778. Lallié’s
J.-B. Carner, p. 254.)
Paris. 20th Pluviése, Year 2
(8th February, 1794).
CITIZEN REPRESENTATIVE,
You have desired to be recalled. Your
multiplied labours in a town so little patriot and
so near the Vendée, have earned you a few
moments’ repose, and your colleagues will see you
with pleasure among them at the National
Convention. It is the intention of the Committee
to give you another mission, and you must come
to confer about it with the Committee.?
Greeting and fraternity,
B.-B., J. S.-A., B.-V.3
1 This letter seems lost ; it may have been written to one of
the members and not to the Committee as a whole.
2 Carrier did not accept another mission; soon after his
return to Paris he became one of the secretaries to the Convention.
% According to Lallié, the initials are almost indecipherable.
They represent: Bertrand Barrére, Jeanbon Saint-André,
Billaud-Varenne. The letter is in Barrére’s hand-writing.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER — 221
Letter from Carrier to the Committee of Public
Safety.
(Entire from Recueil des Actes, t. 11, p. 104. Aulard’s
Analysis.)
NANTES. 24th Pluviose, Year 2
(12th February, 1794).
Carrier sends copy of a letter which has been
written to him by Duquesnoy, General of Division,
commanding three thousand men of the Army of
the North, dated from the head-quarters of Saint-
Columbine,? the 23rd Pluvidse, Year 2, which
gives an account of an action which has taken
place in the neighbourhood of Légé, between his
Army and that of the brigands of the Vendée,
which he has put to flight, estimating their loss at
eight hundred men; he has only lost one man
and between one hundred and one hundred and
fifty have been wounded. He asks for cartouches,
bread, and shoes, objects in which his Army is
already deficient.
* It will be remembered that part of the Army of the North
had been sent to the Vendée to reinforce the Army of the West.
* It was at this village that Charette lay wounded at this
time ; the responsibility for his escape should therefore belong
to General Duquesnoy, and not to Carrier.
222 “CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter of General Houché to Carrier, Representative
of the People.
(Entire from Savary, Guerres, t. 3.)
CHOLET. 28th Pluvidse, Year 2
(x6th February, 1794).
The troops are withdrawn from Cholet.
Duquesnoy, General of the Army of the North,
takes from me two battalions which were of
Lusignan’s Brigade that he sent to Angers.
Instead of depriving me of two, he ought
rather, on the contrary, to augment my garrison,
Cholet being very difficult to guard because it is
so open. In spite of this, I will guard and defend
Cholet. My courage shall rise with my need ;
besides, my troop esteems me sufficiently, and
I dare assure you that I already possess its
confidence. _ |
Letter of Citizen Bignon, President of the Miltary
Commission Sitting at Nantes, to Carner,
People’s Representative.
(Analysis in the Dugast-Matifeux Catalogue, Nantes.
[Brit. Mus.].)
NANTES.
ist Day of the 1st Decade of the
6th Month of the 2nd Year.
1st Ventése, Year 2
(roth February, 1794.)
The Military Commission deputes extraordi-
narily Citizen David Vaugeois, Prosecutor attached
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 223
to the said Commission, to the People’s Repre-
sentative Carrier, in order to obtain from him
some information concerning an affair which
touches the common weal.!
Letter of Turreau, General-in-Chief of the Army of
the West, to Citizen Carrier, People’s Repre-
sentative.
(Entire from the Moniteur, t. 19, p. 640.)
HEAD-QUARTERS AT NANTES.
12th Ventése, Year 2
(2nd March, 1794).
CITIZEN REPRESENTATIVE,
Brigadier-General Huchet,? commanding
the troops stationed at Cholet, during a sortie
which I had ordered, passed five hundred brigands
to the edge of the sword ; they offered a short
resistance, but Republican valour soon triumphed
over the temerity of these fanatics.
Cateliniére,* whom we had long been seeking,
was found dangerously wounded at his own house,
concealed in a linen-press. His head has just paid
1 This concerned the trial of Fouquet and Lambertye, of
the Company Marat, who were defending themselves by reference
to Carrier’s verbal orders, possessing only one written one, of
which more later. Vaugeois was accompanied by Citizen
Chanterelle.
2 The General Houché of page 222.
* Not the great Catheliniére, but brother of “‘ the Saint of
Anjou,” who, though a “ waggon-driver,’’ commanded the
Vendean Armies. He was killed at Saint Florent, in 1793.
224 -CORRESPONDENCE OF
for his crimes. On his own confession, the troop
of three thousand men which he commanded
dispersed on account of his absence. Let us hope
that Charette will follow his accomplice ere long!
Letter of Bignon, President of the Military
Commission, to Carney.
(Entire from Comte Fleury, Carrier 4 Nantes, p. 194.)
NANTES. Germinal.
(March, 1794.)
A great trial at this moment is occupying both
the Military Commission and the town of Nantes.
Lambertye and Fouquet, both Adjutant-Generals
of Artillery, have been delivered up to the Military
Commission by the Revolutionary Committee of
this town ; both are accused of having withdrawn
from the sword of the law counter-revolutionary
women ; of having taken them to their houses,
and of having openly protected them in spite of
the fact that they were certainly acquainted with
their identity, and that especially not ignorant
that one of them, a certain Geroult de Marcilly,
was the most inveterate enemy of the Republic, a
woman who could only be compared in her hatred
for the Revolution to a Marie Antoinette.
Lamberty pretends to justify himself for this
1 Fleury says this letter is in the Piéces Remises, but I cannot
find it there. It probably is in the Bibliothéque, Nantes. Fleury
quotes constantly from the Piéces Remises, but this is the only
occasion upon which he does not at the same time cite the page.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER —_ 228
crime and others by verbal orders that he received
from you, because he has been able to show only
one written order signed by you the 15th Frimaire,’
which permits him to requisition the armed force
for an expedition that he can make by day or
night. He continually adopts as system of
defence the verbal orders that you gave him, he
says, because you knew his patriotism. But he
has so strangely abused your orders that there
now remains no more for him to do to justify
himself than to inculpate you.
Representative of the People, the Military
Commission urges and begs you, in the name of
justice and truth, and to confound imposture and
calumny, to inform it as far as you can of the
verbal orders you have given Lamberty. Your
known character, as just as revolutionary, does
not permit the Commission to believe that you
have given him orders unworthy of a People’s
Representative.
The Military Commission awaits your reply in
order to bring to trial two miscreants who may
1 The only evidence that Carrier gave orders for the famous
” NOYADE”’ of the Ninety Priests is this order to Lamberty, and
at the time of his trial the Representative was shown to have
been ignorant of the deed until after its accomplishment, when he
duly reported it to the Convention. The ”’ noyade’’ itself took
place on the 26th Brumaire, twenty-one days BEFORE the date
of this order, whose true date is 17th Frimaire. Carrier declared
that it referred to his use of Lambertye as a spy, as that citizen
had lived with and knew the habits of Charette. (See also p. 211 n.)
Q
226 CORRESPONDENCE OF
have abused your name to commit crimes. This
trial is suspended until we receive your reply.
You alone can throw upon this affair the light
indispensable to direct our conscience. We pray
you, therefore, in the name of Justice, to give us
the reply for which we ask.
We are, with fraternity, etc.,
BiGNoN (President) ; WoLF (Judge);
CHANTERELLE (Judge) ; AUDE (Judge) ;
Davip VAuGEo!Is (Public Prosecutor).
Letter of Phélippes Tronjolly: to Carner.
(Entire from the Moniteur, t. 22, p. 584.)
NANTES. 15th Germinal, Year 2
(4th April, 1794).
Among the Colleagues you have given me, there
are two who do not sympathize with me. After a
long illness I have just learnt that you have
nominated some one in my place. I am not
troubled at having lost my presidency, but I
1 Frangois-Anne-Louis Phélippes de Coatgoureden de Tron-
jolly, some-time President of the Criminal Tribunal of the Depart-
ment of the Lower Loire. |
* Phélippes had been away from his post for some time
without giving any explanation of his absence, which was, in fact,
due to an attack of ‘the contagion.’”’ The Revolutionary
Committee of Nantes reported his unexplained absence to
Carrier and got him removed from his “ presidency.”’ In the
sequel he was able in his new post, that of Public Prosecutor, to
work the Committee more harm than in his former one. (For
further particulars, see p. 259, note 10.)
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 227
should not console myself for having lost the
confidence of a Representative such as you are.
You were badly entouragé at Nantes; be on your
guard against Goullin' and the impressions he
might give you. He has only been a patriot for
two years, and exhorted by Grandmaison? he has
obtained letters of pardon for a murder; he has
committed arbitrary acts, no doubt without your
knowledge. They have caused the prisoners to be
bound and pinioned in the prisons and have not
reported the causes for punishment of those whom
they removed and drowned. No one renders you
more justice than myself, who am a patriot and
a republican.
Letier of Phélippes Tronjolly to Carrier.
(Entire from the Moniteur, t. 22, p. 584.)
NANTES. 37d Prairial, Year 2
(22nd May, 1794).
The individuals whom I accuse by my act of the
23rd of last month? are spreading the rumour that
I wish to direct my accusation towards you ; it is
a calumny. I have never had the intention of so
+ Instigator of the first ’noyade,’”’ and member of the
Revolutionary Committee of Nantes.
2 Another of the Committee of Nantes, executed with Carrier
for his excessive cruelty. (For Goullin and Grandmaison, see
Pp- 253-5, notes 8, 9.)
* The Revolutionary Committee of Nantes and the Company
Marat.
228 CORRESPONDENCE OF
doing. You are too good a Republican to have
been implicated in the offences that my duty
obliges me to denounce to justice. Render me
justice ; malicious persons have deceived you on
my account by telling you that I was attacked by
a mortal illness. I have obeyed the delay that has
been put to my proceedings. I will only act if I
receive orders.
Letter of the Representative B6 to the Representative
Carrier.
(Entire from MSS., Musée Thomas Dobrée, Nantes.)
NANTES. 37d Thermidor. Year 2
(21st July, 1794).
Liberty, Equality, or Death.
In the Name of the French People.
NANTES. 37d Thermidor.
2nd Year of the French Republic,
One and Indivisible.
The People’s Representative at Nantes attached
to the Army of the West and in the Depart-
ments depending thereon.
To his friend, Carrier.
I am very glad, dear Colleague, that you have
had the accounts of the (Committee) of Surveil-
1 The Representative Bé had put a stop to Phélippes’ pro-
ceedings on account of the counter-attack of the Revolutionary
Committee upon Phélippes. The inquiry was deferred. (See
p. 258.)
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 229
lance of Bourgneit acquitted as soon as their
morality and civism were known. It was neces-
sary to excuse their astounding folly.
You ought to feel that everything that is dear
to you is equally dear to me. Our worthy fellow-
citizens always find in me a zealous friend ready
to oblige them when occasion for so doing presents
itself.
Let us speak a little of Aurillac.1 My conduct
has been frank in this Department, I have made no
dismissals, no replacements, without consulting
the Popular Society and the people united. I was
not acquainted with the subjects. If the people
was deceived, the error recoils on it. A Repre-
sentative in the Departments can only surround
himself with the people, and everywhere I only
act by it and for it.
I have learnt with grief of the troubles at present
agitating the Commune of Aurillac on account of
Boudier. It appears that some persons made
complaints about him, and that those who
denounced or deposed against him have been
arrested. |
I am going to make you acquainted with my
fashion of thinking. I only became acquainted
with Boudier on my (recent) visit to Aurillac.
At first sight 1 saw and recognized him as a
patriot, although I perceived quite clearly that he
* Carrier and Bé were friends before the Revolution, and both
were townsfolk of Aurillac.
230 CORRESPONDENCE OF
was somewhat directed by passion, but I attri-
buted his hot-headedness to his ebullient tempera-
ment. I had heard some proposals lavished
against him, but I paid no attention to them,
because calumny attaches itself to patriots
especially. Olivier came to denounce the facts
to me and to ask me for a Commissioner in order
to verify them. I saw passion in his behaviour,
but I (also) saw an Administrator of the Depart-
ment, and I could not prevent myself from
agreeing to his request because it was necessary to
get at the truth, and it results from the verification
of the registers that there has been a formal
alteration made by the hand of Boudier, and
acknowledged: by him. The Tribunal has con-
demned him ; I have nothing to say or to reclaim
against this judgment ; it seems to me it is very
difficult to free Boudier from blame, small as is
the value of the sum perverted. The law speaks,
the crime exists. A public functionary should
never be under suspicion.
If we look into the information supplied, we
shall see that Boudier had been lacking in
delicacy towards a clock-maker, had abused his
authority as member of a Revolutionary Com-
mittee with regard to one of the creditors at his
death ; had purchased national property and
resold it with great profit, had driven away
the owners, and finally, possessed a fortune not
in existence three years ago,
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 231
My friend, either all the witnesses are knaves
(coguins), or Boudier is guilty, and in the first
case, how will he justify the alteration in the
procés-verbal of sale? Weigh well, I beseech you,
my reflections, supported as they are by the
procés-verbal of Sabarthe, which is in my hands,
and to which Boudier cannot appeal without
causing the deponents to be declared false
witnesses and to be punished as such.
I am ignorant of Olivier’s reasons for having
them all arrested: I am acquainted with these
individuals only by public opinion which has
preserved or nominated them. Those who
denounce them to-day have given their assent
to them. The facts should be sufficient to judge
them. I am not mixing myself up in this matter,
but if truth and proberty are on the order of the
day, Boudier cannot be justified on some capital
points.
I owe you the truth because nothing can make
me be silent, and I tell it to a friend who loves it
(also). Tell me if I deceive myself and I will
listen to you with gratitude.
Adieu ; I love you because you only desire the
good of the public cause, and because if you
recognize the truth or the snare which is being laid
for you, you know how to avoid it, just as I do.
Let us instruct each other mutually, and only love
virtuous men.
a I embrace you,
232 CORRESPONDENCE OF
Letter from the Women of Nantes to Carrier.
(Synopsis. Arch. MSS. Rev. Trib. of Paris.)
12th Fructidor. |
(29th August, 1794.)}
The Women of Nantes, to Carrier.
Letter of thanks to Carrier, describing him as
their protector and preserver, together with
Tréhouart and his colleagues.
Letter of Carrier to the Committee of Public Safety.
(Entire from Rescueil des Actes, t. 17, p. 282.)
PARIS. 16th Vendémiaire, Year 3
(7th October, 1794).
Carrier, to the Committee of Public Safety.
CITIZENS COLLEAGUES,
Assailed by the most infamous calumny, I
have been obliged to have the reports of my
different missions printed. As the calumny has
been maliciously propagated, I desire to justify
myself to the whole nation. The printer of the
Convention informs me that at the Republic’s
expense he can print only eight hundred and
twenty copies of my report. As I must have at
least ten thousand, and as it is impossible for me
1 This date may be that upon which the piéce was sent to the
Rev. Trib.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 233
to pay the publication expenses,’ I beg the Com-
mittee to authorize me to have printed at the
expense of the Republic the number of copies
necessary to destroy this calumny, wherever it
may have spread.
Greeting and fraternity,
CARRIER.?
(At the Sitting of Convention on the evening of the 21st
Brumaire, the Convention decreed that Carrier was to
be placed under arrest at his own house, in the care of
four gendarmes, at the national expense. Moniteur,
t. 22, p. 484.)
Letter of Carrier to the National Convention.
(Entire from Monitteur, t. 22, p. 490.)
SITTING OF CONVENTION, 23RD BRUMAIRE,
YEAR 3.
(Paris. 12th or 13th November, 1794.)
One of the secretaries reads a letter from
Carrier which complains that the orders given to
the gendarmes who guard him at his house?
1 Carrier’s name is absent from the list of expenses paid to
the Representatives on Mission. He was hard pressed for money
at this time, and tried to claim arrears of salary due to him.
See “‘ List of Expenses,” etc. (Brit. Mus.), and Moniteur, t. 22,
p. 646.
2 This letter is in Carrier’s hand-writing. The demand was
referred to the Committee of Inspectors of the Hall, who seemed
to have refused his request.
* Another “‘ complaint ’ emitted by Carrier (21st Brumaire)
is that he is deprived ‘‘ of the sweetest of consolations,”’ namely,
the letters from his “‘ virtuous wife,”’
234 CORRESPONDENCE OF
prevent him from having a secretary or receiving
the visits of his friends. He asks the Convention
to grant him this twofold facility.
Answer from the Convention.
SAME SITTING.
The Convention authorizes him to take a
secretary and to receive his friends in the presence
of his four gendarmes.
Letter of Carner to the Convention.
(Entire from Moniteur, t. 22, p. 535.)
SITTING OF CONVENTION, 28TH BRUMAIRE,
YEAR 3.
(Paris. 17th or 18th November, 1794.)
The President! reads a letter from Carrier in
which he asks:
(1) That the Convention grant him a decade’s?
delay in which to mediate his defence.
(2) That the printed report of the Commission® be
communicated to him.
(3) That the Public Prosecutor be given orders to
send him copies or originals of the letters
of Phélippes Tronjolly.
+ Legendre, of Paris (the butcher).
* That is, ten days.
3 « Rapport de la Commission des Vingt et Un” (Synopsis of
the Préces Remises), |
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 235
Answer from the Convention.
SAME SITTING.
After some discussion the Assembly passes to
the order of the day on Carrier’s first demand, and
grants the other two.
Letter of Carrier protesting against his Judges.
(Entire from Arch. Nat. MSS. W. tst Part. Armoire de Fer.)
(7th Frimatre, Year 3)
(27th November, 1794).!
Paris. The Conciergerie. Beginning of Frimaire,
3rd Year of the Republic, One and Indivisible,
Carrier, Representative of the French People,
persisting in his refusal to admit the fitness of the
jury appointed for his trial, this day begun,
appeals in the name of Justice to be tried by
jurymen of another section ;? he refutes utterly
in that name the qualifications of the jury which
has been appointed according to the list he has
just received, as having shown themselves
prejudiced against him in the debates which have
1 I date this letter the 7th Frimaire because Carrier made his
first appearance before the Tribunal on that day. I translate
“but ” as “ beginning.” The accused himself has lost count of
the flight of time. This letter, obviously dictated, is covered
with signatures.
* There were several sections of the Revolutionary Tribunal,
and under the circumstances Carrier’s demand was not un-
reasonable. However, his request was not granted,
236 CORRESPONDENCE OF
taken place up to this day against the Revolu-
tionary Committee of Nantes,’ notably among
them Citizens Saulnier, Sambat, Topino-Lebrun,
as closely connected with Réal,? Fréron, and
Tallien,? sworn foes of Carrier, who have roused
against him this scandalous trial now in progress.
He asks that the present declaration should
make one among the documents used at his trial.
CARRIER.
1 Whose trial had been proceeding at Paris for some little
time.
* Conducting the defence of the Revolutionary Committee of
Nantes, etc. Their guilt having been proved beyond doubt,
Réal, by his eloquence, reduced them to tears, and then, point-
ing to the sobbing group of ruffians, demanded of the audience :
** Behold them, Citizens! Are these ferocious men?” It is
said that the entire audience: judge, jury, accused, accusers,
spectators, burst into tears likewise, at this scene of “‘ sensibility,”
with, of course, the single exception of Carrier. Needless to say,
Réal’s coup d’théatre won the Committee’s acquittal.
3 Tallien and Fréron were journalists whom Carrier’s bitter
tongue had deeply offended Here are two specimens of his ill-
timed wit :
Upon Tallien remarking that he was going to “ purge’ the
Convention by a ‘* Fructidor ’’ in emulation of that ‘“‘ Thermidor ”
which had seen the destruction of the Robespierre “* faction ’’—
led, if necessary, by himself—Carrier, in the Tribune, cried out:
“Let them come, this band of assassins! If they have only
Tallien at their head, he will do as he did when sent down to the
Vendée : constantly remain at Tours.”
Those fully acquainted with Tallien’s revolutionary opera-
tions will appreciate Carrier’s description of him as follows:
‘Tallien is always trotting about demanding justice; it is
like Satan rebuking sin.”’
(Both these anecdotes are recorded in the Moniteur.)
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 237
Letter of Carrier to the President* of the National
Convention.
(Entire from the Moniteur, t. 22, p. 628.)
Paris. 8th Frimaire, Year 3
(28th November, 1794).
_ (Carrier writes) that there may be given to him
the papers necessary for his defence, and which
are under the seals placed on his papers.’
Letter of Carrier to the Convention.
(Entire from the Moniteur, t. 22, p. 649.)
Paris. 11th Frimaire, Year 3
(rst December, 1794).
(Carrier writes) that the Commission® estab-
lished at Nantes which declared it had condemned
only four to five hundred brigands, acknowledges
already one thousand eight hundred. Moreover,
it is certain that in calculating the days it was in
function and the number of brigands it had
1 Clauzel.
2 Granted. As Carrier was taken to the Conciergerie on the
night of the 4th Frimaire, this action seems a little tardy.
’ This is the Le Mans Military Commission, instituted by
Prieur of Marne, Bourbotte, and Turreau. They transferred it
to Nantes, where it continued to look to Prieur as its director.
Bignon was its president. This flinging of its responsibility upon
Carrier was particularly unfair, as Prieur, his colleague for
Morbihan and the Lower-Loire, was in Paris at this time, voting
his ‘‘ oui’ for Carrier’s condemnation.
238 JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER
sentenced to execution, there were at least four
thousand of them put to death; it tried one
hundred and fifty to two hundred of them per day.
He concludes from this that the depositions
contradict each other, and he asks in consequence
the deposit at the record-office of the Revolu-
tionary Tribunal of the Registers of the Military
Commission of Nantes. The Revolutionary
Tribunal has refused him this just request under
pretence that he wished to gain time by this
method. He addresses himself to the Convention,
whose justice and impartiality he demands.
Answer from the Convention.
The Assembly passes to the order of the day
upon Carrier’s request.?
1 See also Moniteur, t. 22, p. 681. Carrier requests the Public
Prosecutor, Leblois, to allow him to call certain witnesses in his
* favour, generals and officers of the Army of the West, and certain
deputies. His request was forwarded to the Convention, which
refused it.
END OF THE CORRESPONDENCE.
NOTES ON THE CORRESPONDENCE
(1) The Representatives with the Armies are to concert
with the Generals about the filling of vacancies in the
Army ; and are to keep a watch over all the agents of
the Executive Power, Army contractors, purveyors, the
conduct of the generals and soldiers. They can suspend
civil and military agents and replace the latter pro-
visionally. They are to execute surveillance over pro-
visions, forts, strong places, making daily list of stores,
supplies, arms, provisions, munitions, etc. They are to
review the armies and fleets and to distribute to the
troops the proclamations and bulletins of the National
Convention. They are invested with “ illimitable powers,”
but must write at least once a week to the Convention
(read Committee of Public Safety) to give a general
account of their operations and the condition of things
and men under their supervision, especially with regard
to public opinion. (Recueil, t. 3.)
The post of Representative attached to the Armies was
therefore no sinecure, and, in general, it may be said that
this somewhat overworked official had his finger in every
pie of his “ arrondissement.”’
239
240 CORRESPONDENCE OF
(2) Letter from Pocholle to his Colleagues Prieur (of
Marne) and Bourbotte.
(Entire from Bliard, Prieur de la Marne, p. 385.)
RENNES, this 5th Frimaire.
(25th November, 1793.)
My FRIENDS,
You spoke to me yesterday with too much energy
and too much frankness not to have made the most pro-
found impression on me. You have rights on my friend-
ship. You have acquired them more than ever to my
thanks. I conceal none of my faults, but in spite of
their enormity I do not think myself unworthy of your
esteem. An excess of sensibility has perhaps been the
only cause of my errors. You would not doubt it if my
relations with the woman who has drawn upon me your
reproaches were better known to you, and if you under-
stood how really different she is from those with whom
she might be confused. For the rest, it is not she whom
I must consider ; it is our country which should dominate
all our affections, and to which you will see me henceforth
sacrifice all.
You will often find in my character traits of feebleness,
but not those of a méchant or a slave. It is for you to
gloss over my failings and to hold my glory as dear as
your own. You have the means of repairing everything.
In the name of friendship, even of the interests of the
Republic, do not neglect them. I have opened my heart
completely to you; the promises I have made you shall
not be vain ones. The one you have especially asked
me for shall be fulfilled. Treat me as I believe my
confession and my regrets merit. Would that my friends
were all like you! All the time I have spent without
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 241
profit to the common weal would then have been con-
secrated to serve it, and I dare hope the Republic would
have been able to count me among its useful supports.
I am going to seat myself again on the Mountain, and
shall once more gather from that soil the vigour which I
have for some time lacked. I would have you believe
that nothing will arrest me in the revolutionary career.
Adieu, my friends ; my greatest regret in leaving you
is in being unable to share the perils to which you will
be exposed. I have yielded with grief to your suggestions
for hastening my departure. I embrace you and implore
you to write to me.
Your Colleague,
POCHOLLE.
(After perusal of this effusion, one is not astonished to
learn that Pocholle had been recalled for ‘“‘ feebleness,”
on Frimaire 3rd.)
(3) Appointment of a Committee of Public Safety
at S. Malo.
(Entire from Archives Nationales., A.F. 11, MSS.)
APPOINTMENT OF A COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY
AT S. MALO
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, or Death.
In the Name of the French People.
Carrier, the People’s Representative on the Western
Sea-board, having seen the petition addressed to him
unanimously by the Members of these Committees
to meet in one place and thoroughly to supervise all
foreigners who are to be found at S. Malo or who may
gather within its walls ; and in pursuance of this object
to make visits during the day at the houses of those
R
242 CORRESPONDENCE OF
citizens where foreigners may be; to arrest suspected
foreigners, verify their papers and to ask such questions
as they may consider necessary to make certain of the
real aim of their proceedings ; to give foreigners staying
more than twenty-four hours in S. Malo cards of surety
in return for their passports which shall only be given
back to them, signed by the Committees, at the day or
hour of their departure; he authorizes the said Com-
mittees (united) to expel from their commune any
foreigner whose misdemeanour, irregularity in his papers
or answers, shall give cause for suspicion, or who shall
be declared suspect by the signed denunciation of six
good citizens, and also to deliver up to the tribunals
those foreigners whom half plus one of the members of
the Committees shall judge sufficiently guilty to undergo
this examination; he authorizes the said Committees
to take speedy measures to disarm citizens falling under
the provisions of the Law of March 26th last ;! and also
those whose disarmament shall be demanded by five
members of the People’s Club at S. Malo, or by five
citizens whose patriotism has been proved ; and further,
the said Committees are authorized to issue warrants
for the arrest of and to expel from their communes and
send back to their homes such as are not natives of
5S. Malo, who have taken up residence there since the
Revolution, and also all Juxurious menials if their residence
at S. Malo is judged dangerous by two-thirds of the
aforesaid Committees ; for the prompt execution of the
above measures he places at the disposal of the Com-
mittees all the armed forces in S. Malo, those of S. Servan
and of the surrounding districts; he enjoins the said
force in the name of the French Republic to obey all
1 The Law of March 26th last. An exhaustive catalogue of
suspects.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER —243
orders issued by the Committees ; requires the Munici-
pality ! of S. Malo to communicate with the members
of the Committees for the purpose of registering their
declaration of arms, and orders that those arms taken
from suspected persons shall be placed in the hall of the
Committees for their deposit in the court of the commune,
and also shall furnish the Committees with anything
that may be necessary for the exercise of their functions.
S. Malo. 25th August, 1793. First Year of the French
Republic, One and Indivisible.
(Signed) CARRIER.
In addition, the aforesaid Representative authorizes
the Committees to issue a warrant for the arrest of all
suspected persons judged such by two-thirds of the
United Committees, to search for the arms of these
persons at their country houses and at S. Malo, and to
take possession of their arms and ammunition when
found.
Given at S. Malo the same day and year.
(Signed) the aforesaid CARRIER.
As a consequence of which the Committees assembled
in accordance with the invitation which they had received,
and after proceeding with the reading of the letter,
deliberated on the way in which disarmament should be
- carried out, and as to the number of suspected persons
covered by its provisions ; this being done, it was resolved
that the list furnished for the purpose to the deliberating
assembly, and consisting of such persons as were sworn
to be suspect and meriting disarmament, on the soul and
conscience of a more than sufficient majority of good
citizens, should be discussed by the assembly.
1 The Municipalities of these particular regions were at that
time ‘‘ suspect.” :
244 CORRESPONDENCE OF
The President then put to the vote the question as to
which persons appeared to be suspect by a large majority,
and in consequence worthy disarmament ; the names in
the two lists being called over, each member was con-
sulted by the President under suspicion (sous suspicion,
i.e. of being prejudiced against any suspect) in respect
of each one, and as a result by a large majority of votes
the following persons ! were declared to be suspect and
to merit disarmament.
Rastern Sections... 3... oe ke 31
Northern Sections... is cea oes 53
Western Sections 2.0.3.5 o5.00 00 SS 20
(4) General Beysser
In connection with this General it may not be out of
place to give the following letter from two agents of the
Committee of Public Safety to their employers.
(4) Letter of Guermeur and Hérault, to the Citizen Members
of the Committee of Public Safety of the National Convention.
(Entire from Fr. Grille, La Vendée en 1793, t. 2, p. 97.)
RENNES. 6th September, 1793.
Year 2 of the Republic, One and Indivisible.
CITIZEN REPRESENTATIVES,
We arrived yesterday at Rennes. Our first care
was to visit your colleague Carrier. After having shown
him our powers and delivered the letter from the Minister
of Justice, we asked for news of General Beysser, and
1 Names omitted.—E.H.C.
2 This document is a certified copy of the minutes creating
this new Committee out of several existing Committees. It was
sent to Paris to make one of the papers at Carrier’s trial, but was
not so used.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER — 245
especially if he had disposed of the hundred thousand
francs which had been confided to him. He replied that
he was absolutely ignorant if Beysser had deposited it or
even received these funds. We went to the paymaster-
general, who certified that he had banked nothing coming
from this source.
Your colleague Carrier told us that Beysser, far from
occupying himself with the principal object of his mission,
held views at least a little strange, since during his
residence here he had frequented almost exclusively the
federalistic administrators. _He has, however, sent
General Halper, a man of enlightened (épure) civism, to
search for the traitor Duplessis, and for this object has
given him the sum of sixteen hundred francs ; but there
has been no news from this citizen since.
The presence of the Representative Carrier was essential
in this town. Some days after his arrival a counter-
revolutionary movement broke out in it. Royalism and
federalism united raise an insolent head. A corps of
cannoneers publicly holds the most infamous proposals
and displays the most incivic conduct. It is very astonish-
ing that General Beysser during his residence here had
no information upon these matters, whereas we have
acquired certitude almost on our very arrival. We will
guard ourselves from even suspecting that his withdrawal
from this town was concerted to facilitate an explosion ;
what is very certain is that without the arrival of Carrier,
and especially without the great energy he has displayed,
it would have taken place; and that plots are being
hatched at this very moment. But your colleague has
taken the precaution of surrounding himself with an
armed force capable of dealing adequately with the
malevolent, and which will give him every facility to
purge the administrations, which are entirely composed
of conspirators.
246 CORRESPONDENCE OF
One of us, Hérault, is going to Nantes to give Beysser
the letter which the Minister of Justice sends him by us,
and to take, in concert with the deputies who are there,
the necessary steps to make this General give an account
of the employment of those funds which he has used,
and to return the residue to the paymaster’s chest.
We are almost certain that the conspiring deputies are
in refuge at the place Guermeur has indicated. Your
colleague Carrier has again received the same informa-
tion as that which he gave you before his departure from
Paris. But we have as yet no means of execution.
Besides, Citizen Carrier, finding himself alone here, cannot
single-handed do the immense work that ought to be
done each day. Guermeur will remain with him until he
* receives a new order from you.
(Follows some matter irrelevant to Carrier or Beysser.
Omitted.)
We are with respect, Citizen Legislators,
Your devoted fellow-citizens,
GUERMEUR. HERAULT.
Rennes, 6th September, 1793. Year 2 of the Republic,
One and Indivisible.
(5) Appointment of a Commitiee of Public Safety
at Rennes.
(Entire from Archives Nationales., A.I’. 11, MSS.)
APPOINTMENT OF A COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC SAFETY
AT RENNES
In the Name of the French Republic.
The Representatives of the French People in the
Department of Ile-et-Vilaine and others, have made the
following resolution :
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER — 247
ARTICLE I
A Committee of Public Safety shall be established in
the town of Rennes.
ARTICLE 2
The Committee shall consist of sixteen members,
chosen from among the citizens of Rennes; its powers
shall extend over every arrondissement of the Depart-
ment.
ARTICLE 3
It shall keep up direct correspondence with that of
S. Malo and all others that the People’s Representatives
may ordain in the Departments of Ile-et-Vilaine, Mor-
bihan, Finisterre, Cotes-du-Nord, and Loire-Inférieure.
ARTICLE 4
It shall principally supervise foreigners and refractory
priests, the one-time privileged classes, all such as held
lucrative and honorary posts under the ancient regime,
all military and civil officers, dismissed public function-
aries, and the agents and servants of all the individuals
designated in this article.
ARTICLE 5
It shall protect patriots from arbitrary vexation and
liberate those who have been imprisoned unjustly.
ARTICLE 6
It shall disarm all suspected persons ; their arms shall
be delivered to patriots for the common defence.
ee
ARTICLE 7
The Committee shall distribute pikes to citizens who
have no guns and who are of known civism.
248 CORRESPONDENCE OF
ARTICLE 8
_ Bells and useless metals shall be turned into weapons
by the order of Commissioners nominated for this purpose
by the Committee of Public Safety of the Convention.
ARTICLE 9
The armed force is considered bound to support by
obedience and practical assistance the orders of the
Committee of Public Safety.
ARTICLE 10
The members who compose it are Citizens Manella,
Gournve, Levot, Bouvet, Paters, Pellau, Laroche,
Amidonier (diné), Rullant, Blaize, Freston (cadet),
Lemay, Lanson.
ARTICLE II
The Committee is authorized to arrest all suspected
persons whose liberty shall appear to it dangerous to the
public tranquillity.
ARTICLE 12
Arrests shall be made in accordance with a majority
of votes of the members present.
Rennes, the 12th September, 1793. First Year of the
Republic, One and Indivisible.
Signed by the People’s Representatives,
POCHOLLE, CARRIER.!
_ 1 See note, p. 244, No. 2,
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 249
(6) Letter of Geneval-in-Chief L’Echelle, to Citizen
Bourchotte, Minister of War.
(Entire from Legros, Correspondance Du Comite de Salut
Public, t. I, p. 303.)
The Citizen Léchelle, Commander-in-Chief of the
Army of the West, to the Minister of War.
HEAD-QUARTERS AT MONTAIGU,
11th October, 1793.
CITIZEN MINISTER,
After having conferred at Nantes with the People’s
Representatives and the two Commissioners of the
Committee of Public Safety, I went two days’ ago in
the evening to the head-quarters at Montaigu, and
yesterday morning I visited the camp.
_ Although the troops were astonished at the recall of
Generals Canclaux and Dubayet, I have only to con-
gratulate myself upon the good welcome they gave me.
It is clearly seen that, for true defenders of the Republic,
the personnel is nothing and love of the Republic is all.
I ought to render an authentic justice to Generals
Canclaux and Dubayet ; they have left me troops well
organised and which appear in the best dispositions.
The effective of the Army which is here, known formerly
under the denomination of Mayence and Nantes, is at
this moment only 9,075 men in fighting condition. I
have sent an order to the troops stationed at Lucon and
at Les Sables d’Olonnes to come hither to reinforce me,
taking care to leave those necessary to the safety of those
two posts, especially that of Les Sables, so that I cannot
expect from that side a reinforcement of more than
4,000 men. Their junction with me, having regard to
the distance and difficulties they may experience, is not
250 CORRESPONDENCE OF
possible before three days, and, if necessary, I will make
a movement towards Saint-Fulgent to protect it.
The troops which were at Doué, Thouars, and La
Chataigneraye had received on the 2nd of this month an
order from General Rossignol to collect at Bressuire,
to fall from there upon Chatillon, which is one of the
chief places of the military government of the rebels,
and to operate a favourable diversion. If the reunion is
happily accomplished, a corps of about 11,000 men
should be formed, which is a dozen leagues from me and
with which I can communicate only by a very consider-
able circuit. I have told General Chalbos, who commands
it, that while I am on the march towards Mortagne, he
for his part must also be on the march, so that, by a
concourse of forces, we be the more certain to gain a
decisive result on the centre of the rebellion. I hope that
the grand attack which should result from these com-
bined movements, may take place the 14th and the 15th
of this month. I will march at first upon Tiffauge,
which is an important post upon the Sévre, four leagues
from Mortagne. If the enemy awaits me in force, I
will give him battle with confidence, and I will pursue
him without intermission as long as the subsistences
allow me to do so; for this is what gives us the most
embarrassment in a country where communications
are difficult, and where we have enemies upon all sides.
You can be persuaded that I will neglect nothing to
accelerate as much as possible the success of the opera-
tions.
According to the reports which I received upon my
arrival, the principal musterings of the rebels are at this
moment divided into three corps; one, composed of
about 30,000 men, commanded by the Generalissimo
D’Elbee, is particularly intended to cover Mortagne
and Chollet ; another corps, composed of about 15,000
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 251
men, is, it is said, for Torfou and Clisson, and may interfere
with my communications with Nantes, or effect a union
with D’Elbee; another corps, at the orders of General
Charette, composed, it is said, of 10,000 men, was the
day before yesterday on my right, at Loyer. Yesterday
I sent 4,000 men to attack it ; informed of the approach
of our troops it retired and has entrenched itself in a very
difficult country.
I announce to you with pleasure that yesterday six
communes came to promise fidelity to the Republic.
I sent them to the People’s Representatives, to examine
the sincerity of their return and advise what should be
done in this matter.
LECHELLE.
P.S.—I have just received a letter from the Com-
mandant of Tours, dated 6th October, in which he asks
for a garrison of infantry and cavalry for the preserva-
tion of the town and its stores or arsenals, as well as for
the maintenance of the interior tranquillity and the
policing of the markets, which has become difficult
owing to the dearth of grain. I think, Citizen Minister,
that, if there were some troops at Blois, Amboise, or
other places in the neighbourhood of the Loire, it would
be well for you to give it an order to defile towards Tours ;
because at this moment I ought to diminish as little as
possible the number of troops intended for action.
(7) The date of the letter of 12th Brumaire
In the Revue Rétrospective, from which Aulard
obtained it, this letter is dated 12th Brumaire. Lallié
considers this date correct, as there is a letter written
by Carrier, 15th Brumaire, in which he says, “I am
alone at Nantes; I cannot go to Rennes.” Bourbotte
252 CORRESPONDENCE OF
also wrote him from Angers on the 18th, which confirms —
Lallié’s view that Carrier had returned to Nantes before
the 22nd.
But besides the ‘‘ to-day, the 22nd Brumaire,” re-
marked by Aulard, the letter contains more evidence
upon this mooted point. In it the Representative gives
a diary of his operations and journeyings from L’Echelle’s
installation to his final return to Nantes, which, however,
he does not date. He writes of L’Echelle, ‘‘ he came to
Nantes either the 18th or 19th Brumaire, wishing to
see me before he died.”” So that Carrier was in Nantes
at least on those dates. Nor does he speak of having left
the city previous to the General’s arrival. The letter is
exceptionally lengthy, and obviously written at two
different periods, the first part dealing with incidents,
the second with reflections. It was, in fact, begun at
Angers and finished at Nantes.
Carrier had evidently begun the letter when he was
called to attend a meeting of Representatives at which
a united epistle was indited to the Convention—the
letter of the 12th Brumaire (q.v.)—after which, without
waiting to finish his own he set off for Nantes. Here in
his solitude he wrote the second part, in which incident
and action are replaced by reflection and retrospection.
On his return from Angers he was worn out and ill, and
with the exception of a visit to the dying L’Echelle—to
use his own phrase—seems to have “ given himself up
to the cares of the doctors.’”’! By his own showing
Thomas, the “ Officer of Health,’’ a man otherwise very
inimical to Carrier, spent the night of the 26th Brumaire
1 Carrier puts down his illness to his rough life in the field,
etc., during the campaign, and to his constant riding with the
Army. (Forty days in the saddle, and unable to sleep at nights,
is his explanation.) See his defence before the Convention
(Moniteur, t. 22).
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 253
with him, not leaving him till dawn (Arch. Nat., MSS.).
This night was the night of the first ‘“noyade,” at
which some historians (notably Lamartine) make Carrier
take part.
(8) Notes on Three Prominent Members of the Revolutionary
Committee of Nantes: Citizens Goullin, Chaux, and
Bachelier
Jean Jacques Goullin, and Pierre Chaux, were, the one
a ruined creole who lived the life of the cafés and the
gaming tables, and the other a shopkeeper become
bankrupt. Both played a great part in the life of the
sans-culotterte of the town of Nantes, and Pierre Chaux,
otherwise known as “‘ Socrates ’’ Chaux, was the founder
of the famous Vincent-la-Montagne Club. This patriot
was in Paris when the Convention decided to send Philip-
peaux to Nantes, and returning with that Representative,
Chaux became his guide, philosopher, and friend. He
introduced him to Goullin, and the pair became secretaries
to Philippeaux and Gillet, who were content to accept
their opinions and advice on matters connected with the
town of Nantes. When the Representatives decided
upon the establishment of a ‘Revolutionary Committee,
they left the nominations for it almost entirely in the
hands of the friends. Realizing that their great opening
in life had come at last, they formed a Committee of docile
subordinates, with the notary Bachelier for President,
who indeed held the pen and signed the orders, and gave
an air of respectability, much needed, to the Committee,
but was otherwise the most easily led of anyone upon it.
Two months after its formation Goullin became
President de juré as well as de facto, when Bachelier
meekly dropped to the Creole’s position of Secretary.
The Revolutionary Committee of Nantes decided upon
254 CORRESPONDENCE OF
the formation of a Revolutionary Company (the Com-
pany Marat) as far back as the 14th October, 1793. As
each candidate presented himself for election Goullin,
who had the appointments in hand, demanded, “‘ N’y-a-
t’il pas de plus scélérats ? Car il nous faut des hommes
de cet espéce pour mettre les aristocrats a la raison.”
Gillet’s powers had now elapsed, and it fell to his
successors in Nantes to give formal sanction to the
company thus nominated,t and when the warrant was
presented for signature (28th October, 1793), not only
was it signed by Carrier but, and first of all, by his
colleague Francastel, who was at Nantes with him.
Carrier’s connection with the Company was slight.
On November 2oth, he “‘ accorded to each member of
the Revolutionary Company called Marat the sum of
to livres a day” (Piéces Remises, 13 1. 2 p.), and a week
later he “subordinated entirely to the supervision of
the Committee the operations of the Revolutionary
Company; he charges the members of this Company
to make no arrest, no domiciliary visitation, without a
requisitionary signed by three members of the Committee
at least ’’ (Piéces Remises, 131. 3 p.).
1 Moniteuy, Nov. 24th, 1794, t. 22, p. 566. Carrier’s reply in
Convention : “ I was acquainted with no one when I arrived at
Nantes Iwas bound to take the persons whom my colleagues—
Philippeaux, Ruelle, and Gillet, resident there six months—had
called to the various posts. They named the members of the
Revolutionary Committee, the Municipality, and the Department.
If these functionaries have deceived Francastel and myself in
presenting people without morals (for the Company Marat) .. .
ought their immorality to be flung upon me? Who is there
among my colleagues who has not sometimes been deceived in
their choice ? ”’
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER — 255
(9) Autobiography of Grandmaison, |
Member of the Revolutionary Committee of Nantes.
(Archives Nationales, MSS. W. ist Part.)
“Tt is from the bottom of a dungeon that the innocent, with
tears, sends you an account of his profound griefs.”
A wild mountaineer, and without education, I will
construct no phrases and speak only the truth, and
depict for you, without order and without art, the
humiliating anguish which has pierced to my very bones.
To the People’s Representatives, Bourbotte and B6.1
NANTES. Prairial, Year 2. Era Republican.
In 1789, at the dawn of liberty, my heart bounded with
joy. The career that I professed—that of instructing
in the art of fencing—drew upon me a crowd of enemies.
The muscadins, the enemies of the Revolution, who in
part composed my academy, deserted it at once, and
from the year 1790 I saw myself without fortune, reduced
to support a wife and three children.
(Follows a eulogy upon his family life. Omitted.—E.H.C.)
The calamities which have destroyed the blades of our
city, then the insurrection of the country districts, gave
opening to my burning desire to serve my native land.
Up till then I had no other occupation than to speak
resolutely of the Revolution both in secret and in public.
I have several times broken lances with its enemies, and
always have I had the advantage of bringing them to
earth.
(Describes his career as a soldier. Omitted.—E.H.C.)
! Bourbotte and B6 were in charge of Nantes at this time,
Prieur and his successors having departed. The reference is to
the arrest of Grandmaison in consequence of Tronjolly’s denun-
ciation “‘ of the 23rd of last month ”’ (see p. 227].
256 CORRESPONDENCE OF
There were no signs of feudalism whose last vestiges
I had not destroyed, no expeditions against the priests
and the nuns where I was not en mesure found.
Chaux had offered and I had accepted the position of
Secretary of the Club of Vincent-la-Montagne. The
confidence of my colleagues, my zeal and burning desire ©
to serve the common weal, assigned to me different and
dangerous expeditions. I have done my duty, my
recompense is my heart. To-day, confounded with
scoundrels and counter-revolutionists, what is then my
crime? That of having observed measures legitimate
and imperatively demanded by the circumstances.
Nantes, surrounded by all the evils that a civil war
perforce brings in its train, sees itself in the dire necessity
of sacrificing useless and criminal mouths; several
submersions were made—the Revolutionary Committee
had no knowledge of them,? they were hardly spoken
about in the town.
The dearth of subsistences, an insurrection which had
broken out in the prison, the contagion near at hand,
which threatened to spread in every corner of the town,?
obliged the People’s Representative to send away the
1 A fencing term—‘“ at proper distance.”
2 So far from having no knowledge of these ’’ submersions ”’
Grandmaison was ultimately guillotined for the cruel part he had
played in the Bouffay ’’ noyade,”’ planned and carried out by
Goullin and himself. He and his Marats sat on the deck of the
lighter that night, and when the victims in the hold broke their
-bonds and pushed through the planking in their endeavours to
escape Moreau Grandmaison gave the order and set the example
of sabring off their limbs.
* Carrier plumes himself in Convention for having given orders
that the streets of Nantes should be cleansed by pumps, “‘ which
no one else had thought about.”
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 257
{28 prisoners detained in the house of arrest called
Bouffay, all of them scoundrels consumed by brigandage *
and crimes of all kinds. It is according to this true and
exact portraiture that the Revolutionary Committee
decided to contribute to the safety of the inhabitants of
the town of Nantes by sending away from its walls this
horde of conspirators and of guilty people, conformably
to the order of the Representative, by the “‘ submersion ”’
of these wretches.?
It is said that among the number there were some
individuals who had only a certain lapse of time to run
to finish their captivity. I was and always have been
ignorant of this fact. Nevertheless, this afflicting and
necessary scene would always have remained in oblivion
if one Phélippes, called Tronjolly,? a man malicious in
character and an eternal rioter, had not reawakened the
affair to convert it into a crime and to throw odium on
the Revolutionary Committee.
(Follows abuse of Phélippes, called Tronjolly.—E.H.C.)
As for the rest, question on my account the concierge,
his wife, and all the lads of confidence of the House of
Bouffay. All will say that my heart has never desired to
pursue the innocent, but rather the guilty. As for the
1 This does not mean thieving, but partisanship with the
brigands.
2 This order for the removal, which Grandmaison owns was
carried out by means of a “‘ submersion,” was extracted from
Carrier by the Revolutionary Committee on the eve of his
departure from Nantes some months later.
3 See page 226, letter from Phélippes and note 2 same page.
As Public Prosecutor, Phélippes had had the several members of
the Committee arrested for the ‘“ noyades”’ and wholesale thefts,
peculation, and general terrorising of the citizens of Nantes.
s
258 CORRESPONDENCE OF
accounts relative to the jewels and other effects, nothing
has passed into my hands.?
(Follows a eulogy on the integrity of himself and the Revolu-
tionary Committee of Nantes —E.H.C.)
Citizens, virtue is oppressed; aristocracy triumphs.
I pray you to cause this overwhelming struggle to cease,
and remove the irons from those who have never merited
them.
[ have spoken. Judge me.
“Vive la République!”
Greeting, Union, and Fraternity.
M. GRANDMAISON.
(We have seen that Tronjolly’s complaints of the
villainies of the Revolutionary Committee and _ their
henchmen, the Company Marat, proved a great source
of embarrassment to the Representative Bé6. That
individual wrote pathetically to the Committee of
Public Safety that owing to the affair his head was quite
“disorganised ”’ (Recueil). He avoided responsibility,
however, by arresting denunciator and denounced alike,
and sent the whole party to Paris. This unmerited
punishment of the really upright Phélippes produced a
flood of ‘‘ memorials ’”’ from his ready pen, from which I
have extracted the following :)
1 Thus accused, Grandmaison et Cie set up the plea that all
they had obtained from the citizens in money and goods were
free-will offerings, a plea that the Nantais were not slow in denying.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 259
(10) Autobiography of Phélippes Tronjolly.
(Archives Nationales, MSS.)
An account of my life as citizen has been sent to the
Convention ; it is made up of twenty-five years of stainless
public virtue. Public officer at the age of eighteen,
friend of the People during the ancient regime, I was
one of the first to take part in the fight for liberty made
in Brittany in 1788; my work under the Republic has
always been in the cause of liberty. On the 16th of
March, 1793, proposed by the people as President of the
Revolutionary and Criminal Tribunal of the Department
of the Lower-Loire for my reputation as a man of integrity,
a severe but righteous and humane judge and intrepid
Republican, I and my colleagues have been indefatigable
in the support of justice and the repression of tyranny.
Even on the 29th June, knowing that I should be the
first to suffer at the hands of the Vendeans, I never
deserted my post. |
Believing the Republic to be in danger on the 31st May
and 2nd June,” on the 5th of June I had of my own accord
1 On this day Federalism was sunk before the common danger
of Charette’s attack on the town of Nantes. Baco and Beysser,
the Vincent-la-Montagnards, ’’ federalist’? and “‘ patriot” alike,
worked heroically at the defence ; when it was assured Charette
himself was among the first to praise that gallant resistance.
The cheers of the citizens of Nantes, the general illumination of
the town, and the firework display, were answered further
down the river by the acclamations of the brigands and their
bonfires. But the cause of the Vendeans was lost, for the English
had asked for Nantes as a port of landing and as a base for
- Operations.
2 The days upon which the Commune destroyed the
Gironde.
260 JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER
signed the resolution of the Administrative Bodies.*
This mistake, freely acknowledged as such, was excused
by the assembled Administrative Bodies 2 on account of
my sincere services and recognized good intentions. At
no time was I under arrest or confined to my house. I
was publicly and entirely acquitted of all suspicion... .
On the 15th of July I received, with delight, the
Declaration of the Rights of Man, graven on my heart,
there to endure till death.
1 “ The Nantais’ protest against the decrees of the 31st May,
ist, 2nd, and 3rd June, and the expulsion of the proscribed
Girondins from the Convention. Paris is only a point upon the
map of France, and the Departments are not to be bossed by her ”’
(Arch. Nat., £. 4422).
2 The renewed Administrative Bodies are obviously intended.
ITINERANCY OF CARRIER
July ist.
July zath.
July 27th.
August 2nd.
August roth.
August 14th.
August 24th.
September 6th.
September 2gth.
October 6th.
October 8th.
October 9th.
1793:
Saint-André in Convention states that
he has just arrived from Melun,
whither Lacoste, Carrier, and him-
self were sent.
Carrier and Pocholle are sent to Eure,
Seine-Inférieure, and other Depart-
ments.
Carrier visits Rouen, Evreux, etc.
Is at Les Andelys.
Arrives at Caen.
Returns to Paris.
Carrier and Pocholle are sent to
Firiistére, Ille-et-Vilaine, Loire-In-
férieure, Morbihan, etc.
Carrier is at Saint-Malo.
He visits Saint-Servan.
Carrier is at Rennes.
Convention decrees Carrier is to go to
Nantes.
Carrier arrives at Nantes.
Carrier leaves Nantes for the Army.
Carrier arrives at Montaigu and installs
L’Echelle.
261
262 CORRESPONDENCE OF
October 13th. Convention decrees Carrier, Bourbotte,
Pinet, Francastel, and Turreau are
to remain with the Army of the West.
October r4th. Carrier leaves Montaigu.
October 15th. Is at Mortagne.
October 16th. Arrives at Cholet.
October 18th. Arrives at Beaupréau.
October 2oth. Returns to Nantes.
October 26th. Arrives at Oudon.
October 27th. Arrives at Ancenis.
October 28th. Returns to Nantes.
November Ist. | Leaves Nantes for Angers.
November 5th. Returns to Nantes.
1794-
February 16th. Carrier leaves Nantes.
From January 16th, 1794, to January 28th, there are
no letters, no orders emanating from Carrier. Up to this
time there has been something—some letter, some order,
some interview—every day. From January 16th to
January 27th Carrier was probably not in Nantes, or at
all events not on duty there. Jullien’s later remark that
“he says he is ill and in the country ”’ (Letter of Jullien
to Robespierre, 16th Pluvidse, Year 2) may refer to this
time ; it certainly did not to the date to which Jullien
assigned it, Carrier then being very much in evidence, as
is instanced by the affair of the pewter-worker, Cham-
penois, and the Vincent-la-~-Montagne Club, to say nothing
of Jullien’s own interview with the Representative. In
Convention Carrier alludes to an illness which totally
incapacitated him. It probably was taking place now
(Jan. 16-28). Its nature was lung trouble (Letter to the
Committee of Public Safety, 29th January, 1794), and
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 263
though “about ”’ again at the end of twelve days, he
asked the Committee for a fortnight’s holiday in which to
“establish his health and vigour.” This holiday, how-
ever, was never taken. Perhaps he thought better of
it and demanded his absolute recall (see page 220).
CHIEF EVENTS IN THE VENDEAN
February 24th.
March roth.
March roth.
April 6th.
May 15th.
May 3Ist.
June Ist—3rd.
June 2oth.
August Ist.
TROUBLES
1793-
Levy of 3,000,000 men ordered by
Convention, the immediate cause of
the Vendean Revolt.
Massacre of Machecoul by the Ven-
deans.
Decree of Convention outlawing priests,
nobles, etc.
First Sitting of the Committee of
Public Safety.
Vendeans take Saumur. Massacring
continues.
Sections of the Capital rise against the
Gironde.
Fall of the Gironde.
Citizens of Nantes repulse the “ bri-
gands ’’—their first check.
Decree of Convention ordering com-
bustible material to be sent to the
Vendée for burning the woods,
thickets, etc. Food, provender, and
cattle found in the “revolted”
Departments are to be collected and
taken for the use of the Republican
Army.
264
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 265
August 14th.
October 13th.
October 16th.
October 31st.
November 12th.
December 3rd.
December 13th.
December 23rd.
December 29th.
January Ist.
January.
February 16th.
March Ist.
Carrier and Pocholle are sent to the
Western Departments.
Carrier, Francastel, Pinet, Bourbotte,
and Turreau are to be left as Repre-
sentatives with the Army of the
West.
Battle of Cholet. The brigands, routed,
cross the Loire.
Battle of Laval. Republicans de-
feated.
The brigands reach Granville, but fail
to take the town.
The brigands are defeated at Angers.
The brigands are defeated at Le Mans.
Great defeat of the brigands at
Savenay. They seek to regain the
Vendée by way of Morbihan.
Prieur of Marne and Carrier are left in
charge of Loire-Inférieure and Mor-
bihan.
1794.
Capture of Noirmoutier, the last strong-
hold of the brigands.
Turreau’s Military Parade re-kindles
the War.
Carrier leaves Nantes.
Five new “ Infernal Columns ”’ set out
and devastate the Vendée.
SOURCES OF THE CORRESPONDENCE
MANUSCRIPT PAPERS IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, PARIS.
The Department of Ille-et-Vilaine. A.F. 51, 10g.
The Department of Loire-Inférieure. A.F. 111, 115.
Papers of the Committee of General Security. F. 4422.
Papers of the Revolutionary Tribunal of Paris. W.
pee AR
CONTEMPORARY JOURNALS, ETC.
Le Moniteur. (Re-impression. Tomes 15-23.)
Journal de la Montagne.
L’Ami des Citoyens. Edited by Tallien.
L’Orateur du People. Edited by Fréron.
Bulletin de la Convention Nationale.
Procés-V erbal de la Convention Nationale.
Carner’s Reports upon his Different Missions.
Thermidorian Brochures of the Anti-Jacobin Press.
La Vie et des Crimes de Carrier. By Babceuf (1795).
Rélation du Voyage des Cent-Trenie-Deux. (July, 1794.)
Piéces Remises a la Commission des Vingt et Un.
Rapport de la Commission des Vingt et Un.
SUBSEQUENT REVIEWS, HISTORIES, AND BIOGRAPHIES,
ETC.
La Revue Rétrospective de la Révolution Francaise,
1849, etc.
La Revue de L’ Anjou.
266
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 267
Recueil des Actes du Comité de Salut Public. By
Aulard, t. 5-17.
Société des Jacobins. By Aulard, t. 3-6.
Paris Pendant la Réaction Thermidonenne. By Aulard,
ede
Correspondance du Comité de Salut Public. Mise en
Ordre par M. Legros; t. 1, 1837.
Histoire de Nantes. By M. Guépin. 18309.
Les Réprésentants en Misston. By Wallon.
La Justice Révolutionnaive. By Berriat Saint-Prix.
Histoire Parlementaive. By Buchez et Roux, t. 34.
Guerres des Vendéens et des Chouans. By J.-M. Savary.
1821. |
La Révolution en Bretagne. By Duchatellier.
La Vendée Patriote. By Charles-Louis Chassin.
Les Vendéens dans La Sarthe. By Henri Chardon.
La Vendée en 1793. Francois Grille.
J.-B. Carner. By Alfred Lallié.
Les Noyades de Nanies. By Georges Lendtre.
Carrier a4 Nantes. By Comte Fleury.
Prieur de la Marne. By Pierre Bliard.
Une Mission en Vendée.1 By Edouard Lockroy.
Le Général Marceau. By Noél Parfait.
Bibliothéque Publique (Dugast-Matifeux Collection),
Nantes.
Musée Thomas Dobrée, Nantes.
1 Contains the Letters of Jullien of Paris.
CARRIER, THE TIGER OF THE WEST
CARRIER figures in the Thermidorian pamphlets as a
monster not ‘inaptly described by his colleague Laignelot
as ‘‘ The Tiger of the West,” 1 and this estimation of the
“‘ Great Exterminator ”’ seems to have been handed down
to posterity by subsequent historians. But for the real
character of the man we must go to evidence other than
that produced by the evil-tongued pamphleteers of a
libellous age, and the interested testimony of those whose
guilt was equal to, sometimes in its egotist intention,
even greater than, his, but whose salvation lay, in that
day of retribution, in their colleague’s condemnation.
Upon leaving college Carrier spent five or six years as
third clerk in the office of the procurator M. Basile
Delsol, his uncle, where he worked with such ardour and
industry that M. Delsol used to say, “‘ Carrier is a good
worker and will be a clever man. When I retire, should
he become my successor, the clients will not perceive that
the office has changed masters.’”’ Leaving Aurillac, in
1779, he went to Paris to study Law, and on his return
home became #frocureur-éscourt? to his city in 1785.
On the outbreak of the Revolution he is described as “ un
homme interessé aux affaires mais que l’on dit trés doux
et méme assez charitable.”
Carrier was not deficient in gratitude, which proved
1 See page 197, note.
* A position approximating to our “ Town Clerk.”
268
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 269
itself in the case of the Marquise de Miramont, whose
family had interested itself in him during his boyhood,
and whose release from arrest, under the stormy regime
of the Terror, he managed to effect.
One of the pamphlets published against him at the
time of his disgrace speaks of his affability and kindness
before he was sent on Mission,2 and Madame Tussaud,
in her memoirs, describes him as possessing agreeable
manners and appearance, and as being well constituted to
shine in society. Good qualities in others he was always
ready to recognize. ‘‘ Merlin fights as a brave grenadier ;
he has the confidence of the whole Army.”* ‘“ Merlin
was with the Mayence column; encouraged by his
presence it achieved prodigies of valour.’’* And this in
spite of the fact that Merlin was at the moment under
Government “suspicion.” His letter of the 22nd Bru-
maire finds at least some one good thing to say of each
General—Kléber, Vimeux, Haxo, come in for unstinted
praise ;5 of Beaupuy: “ The latter is unfortunately a
ci-devant, but what a brave and good General!” That
L’Echelle had no military talent was obvious to every one,
“but what a fine Republican!” writes Carrier. ‘‘ Let
his (incapacity) be attributed to lack of .. . skill—
never to any fault of heart.’’ In the Convention Carrier
speaks highly of the military capacity, bravery, and
civism of General Tilly, also like Beaupuy a ci-devant,
and adds : “‘ If his birth be an obstacle to his employment
1 All these details are cited by Fleury: Carriey a Nantes,
pp. 2, 3.
2 Which, it need hardly be remarked, is accounted for as a
“‘ Machiavellian ’’ hypocrisy.
3 Letter of r1th October, to Hérault.
4 Letter of 16th October, to the Convention.
® All these Generals emerged from the revolutionary vortex
with honour.
270 CORRESPONDENCE OF
in the Armies, it is not a motive to stir up bitterness and
trouble about him.”’! The energy of Garnier of Saintes,”
the fraternal conduct of the Andeleysians,* the generosity
of Citizen Poupart, of Ancenis, who has sent by Carrier
a “ patriotic gift ’’ of some magnitude to the Convention,
are all highly commended.
Nor was he only generous with his money. Complaints
of all kinds were brought to his notice, and where he
believed them to be just he spared himself no pains in
their settlement. Thus he thinks the price paid for the
shoes requisitioned by the Government too low; 5 he
endeavours, not unsuccessfully, to effect Army replace-
ments not in general permissible, to gratify the paternal
affection of an aged warrior.* His passionate defence of
the Mayence garrison,’ his diplomatic praise of General
Haxo, his consolations offered to the slandered Dufour,®
are but a few examples in point.
On his public trial, during which Goullin is doing his
best to defame him, he renders homage to that patriot’s
humanity in declaring that a certain convoy of brigands
should be treated kindly. Chaux and Goullin, later his
sworn foes, secretly denounce to the Committee of
General Security a certain General Joznet, whom Carrier
himself had assisted to come from Nantes to Paris.
When the Representative hears of this denunciation of
his protégé, he gives it his opinion that Chaux and
1 Moniteur, t. 19, p. 704.
2 Letter of the 12th Brumaire, Year 2.
3 Letter of the 27th July, 1793.
4 Moniteur, t. 19, p. 658.
5 Letter to Bourchotte, 11th September, 1793.
6 Letters of 16th September, 2nd and 5th October, 1793.
? Letter of 22nd Brumaire, etc.
* Letter of roth Nivdése, Year 2.
9 Buchez et Roux, t. 34, p. 164.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 271
Goullin are true patriots who have been deceived.! He
was without rancour even towards Marc-Antoine Jullien,
who had embittered the Tréhouard affair, and proposed,
amid opposition, the adoption of the young man’s address
at the Society of the Jacobins.*
Unlike many of the Representatives, Carrier did not
make one sol out of his mission ; he is frequently to be
found augmenting the salary of the Government em-
ployées : * the National Guard, the members of certain
Administrations, shoemakers working for the requisition,
etc.;4 and when back in Convention is constantly asking
for ‘‘ succour ”’ or “‘ indemnities ” for citizens or soldiers
who have had losses or been badly wounded in the
Vendée.®
More than once he acts as conciliator between contend-
ing parties. He defends General Westermann at the
Jacobins,* and attempts to bring about a reconciliation
between that Club and the Cordeliers.? Similar services
1 Moniteur, t. 19, p. 658. Joznet was about to go to Saint-
Domingo “ on mission ”’ in connection with the Negro emancipa-
tion, and hence the Creole Goullin was interested in preventing
his departure. Goullin writes to the Convention thus: ‘‘ Despatch
him promptly or send him back to us and we will despatch him
ourselves.” On Carrier’s representations the denunciation fell
through.
2 Journal de la Montagne. 30th Floreal, Year 2.
3 Wallon: Les Répresentanis en Mission; Pieces Remises ;
Moniteur.
‘4 The sums suggested sometimes seem rather large when
given “ in sounding cash,’ e.g. ten livres a day. But as a matter
of fact the money was paid in assignats and not in coin, so that
its actual was less than its apparent value. Also 1 livre=1 franc.
5 Moniteur, t. 19, p. 704; t. 20, p. 65; t. 21, p. 117, etc.
§ Moniteur, t. 19, p. 571.
* Moniteur, t.19, p. 647. The Cordeliers remembered this,
and at the period of Carrier’s disgrace passed a vote of sympathy.
272 CORRESPONDENCE OF
rendered to Generals Kléber, Marceau, and others, have
been met with in the course of the correspondence! and
need not be enlarged upon at this place. When the trouble
about the Ardennes and its lack of defence comes under
virulent discussion, Carrier remarks “ that it is not by
invectives, but by reason and by facts that a deputation
should be answered, and that gross expressions revealing
passion and resentment ought never to leave the mouth
of a patriot.” ?
Nor did he hold the belief, so prevalent at the time,
that every one whose views differed from his was a
“‘ counter-revolutionary scoundrel.”” Of the gunners of
Rennes he writes: “‘ I regard them simply as misguided
youths.” Of a Popular Society, rescinding a former
address, he “is convinced it had only acted through
precipitation and error.’”’* Though he regards the
denunciation-loving Philippeaux ‘“‘as foolish as it is
possible for a man to be,” he “‘ does not think him a
counter-revolutionist,’ ® etc.
Carrier was never above owning himself to have been
in the wrong and the person to have given the offence.
Having written a severe letter to General Tribout concern-
ing the Representative Tréhouard,* whose ‘ powers ”
1 See p. 202, note. Letter of the 18th January, etc.
2 Journal de la Montagne, Year 2, No. 3.
3 Letter to Hérault, September 27th, 1793.
4 Moniieur, t. 18, p. 785. Aulard, in his Société des Jacobins,
quotes the Annales Patriotiques, which adds this detail: ‘‘‘ Oh,
oh!’ exclaim the tribunes, ‘here is a repentance a little pre-
cipitate !’”’
5 Moniteury, t.19, p. 571. This failing of Philippeaux made
him the butt of much pleasantry on the part of the Conventzonnels,
whose strenuous labours called for forms of flippant relaxation
better befitting schoolboys.
6 In view of Tréhouard’s precipitate action in the first instance,
there is surely some excuse for a quick-tempered Representative.
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 273
Carrier forbade the Department of Morbihan to recognize,
he apologizes for his action in a very handsome manner
in full Convention, acknowledging that he had acted ina
fit of bad temper, and the Piéces Remises, whose almost
unvarying tone is one of denunciation, recounts of
Carrier as follows: ‘‘ He has brutally received and
overwhelmed with invectives ’’ a certain citizen by name
of Lacour, ‘‘ who went to him to ask in the name of the
Administration that the number of their members might
be completed. The same day Carrier went to find Lacour,
and before more than fifteen persons expressed his regret
for the bad welcome he had given him in the morning.
On the report of some patriots he had understood him to
be an aristocrat and had dismissed him, but better
informed, he was come to reinstate him.” 2 His conclud-
ing oration at the Vincent-la-Montagne Society, which
in very truth had never let slip an opportunity of annoy-
ing the Representative, was in his happiest manner.
Slightly abridged we get it as follows: “‘ Citizens, in
times like these we sometimes let our passions carry us
away, and we sometimes let the passions of others do us
a like disservice. We should, therefore, drive all intriguers
from our midst, and by watchfulness and energy seek out
and remove those bad citizens who only endeavour to
divide the patriots. I am not blaming you more than
myself. I, perhaps, have been unduly influenced.” A
storm of applause and the fraternal accolade were the
results of this ‘‘ harangue,” and in spite of his adventures
* See letter and order to General Tribout, December 24th,
1793. In Convention (Moniteur,t. 22), Carrier owns his letter to
the Municipality of Rédon on this matter was “ bitter.”’
* Piéces Remises, 11, 4 p. The denunciation was drawn up on
25th October, 1794, that is many months afterwards. (In
parenthesis, this remark applies to most of the “‘ denunciations ”’
concerning Carrier’s behaviour at Nantes.)
T
274 CORRESPONDENCE OF
with the club at Nantes, Carrier seems to have had a
warm spot in his heart for Popular Societies, for whose
good intentions and civism he frequently makes himself
the guarantee. !
His devotion to the Revolution and all it stood for was
absolute. ‘“‘ Vivent les bons prétres qui se marient,” ?
he cries to the Convention, after describing a marriage
ceremony of this nature at which he had presided.* In
his eyes the Constitutional Bishop Minée had “ ceased
to be a priest and become a citizen,’’ and he rewarded
him later by making him a Member of the Directory of
the Department of the Lower-Loire.* Night after night
he so “thrills men’s minds” at the People’s Club at
S. Malo that nearly the whole populace accompany him
home, waving caps and chanting patriotic songs. He
attends the “‘ free show ”’ at the theatre of Nantes given
by the Vincent-la-Montagnards to the people, and®
graces a public ball of that town by his presence.’ His
letter to the Convention describing the Feast of Reason
is one monologue of exaltation,? and when a member
demanded that the Society of Jacobins should listen with
Stoic tranquillity to the happy news (of the success of the
Armies) which might reach it in the future, Carrier
sprang to his feet crying out, “‘ Is it within the power of
1 Journal de la Montagne; Moniteur.
2 Carrier was of Huguenot descent.
3 Letter to the Convention, 2nd October, 1793.
4 Archives Nationales, MSS. This did not prevent Minée
adding his quota of reproaches in the hour of Carrier’s disgrace.
5 Letter of August 24th, 1793.
6 Letter of the 21st November, 1793. From the facetious
- remarks of the Thermidorian pamphlets we learn of Carrier’s
presence at this entertainment.
* Dugast-Matifeux Catalogue, British Museum.
8 Letter to the Convention, 21st November, 1793
JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER 276
a Frenchman to restrain the expression of his joy when
he sees the success of his country and the good conduct
of our soldiers ?”’ !
His letters amply refute the taunt that he shut himself
up in solitude while at Nantes, seeing only the members
of the Company Marat and their like, and paying no
attention to the affairs of the town and department.?
Even without them, Carrier’s orders concerning requisi-
tions, means of transport, army effects, profiteers
(monopolists), etc., his numerous interviews with the
different members of the Administrations who visited
him unscrupulously at all hours of the day or night ;
his conferences with the Generals of the Army, the Agents
of the Executive Power, War Commissioners, etc., and
the continuous stream of Representatives passing through
Nantes show that his official life must have been a very
full one.
Before the days of the Tréhouard-Lebatteux quarrel,
Jullien himself commends Carrier’s advice concerning
the Siege of Granville, and Goupilleau pays tribute to
the promptness of the proconsul’s organization in
keeping up the supply of shoes and “ subsistences ”’ for
the Republican columns engaged in that affair, and which
contributed so largely to its success.4
A surrendered commune he receives “ fraternally,”
and supplies with “‘ bread and brandy,” * and Michelet
1 Moniteur, t. 20, p. 372.
® Piéces Remises. These libels, quoted without any investiga-
tion as to the good faith or personal interest of the persons utter-
ing them, are the only sources of Taine’s ‘“‘mad dog ”’ in the
Western Provinces. * Une Mission en Vendée, p. 86.
* Quoted Michelet, La Révolution Francaise, t. 5.
° Carrier’s Report. Carrier in Convention, 8th Vendémiaire,
Year 3. Merlin, asked to confirm this statement, cannot deny
it. Moniteur : Reporting Sitting of Convention of that date.
276 JEAN-BAPTISTE CARRIER
has to make a very wide circuit indeed to prove that
Carrier’s order of the 12th Nivése, for the safety and
liberation of ‘‘ brigand ”’ children in prison was an un-
mitigated evil Though accompanied to the scaffold?
by almost the whole of the lower classes of Paris, uttering
invectives and gibes, Carrier preserved an unruffled
front, “‘ looking fixedly at the people.’’ He mounted the
platform of the guillotine “‘ with vivacity,”’ gave his hand
to the executioner as a sign that he had no grievance
against him, and placed himself, unaided, upon the fatal
plank.
1 Michelet holds a brief for Goullin and Chaux, who were
responsible for the reversal of the order, and the historian has
to defend their conduct. His argument is to the effect that some
of these ‘‘ brigand ”’ children, stealing the tarts of the little
Republican children with whom they were taken to live, showed
that their lives were not worth the saving !
2 Courrier Republican, 27th Frimaire, Year 3, and other
papers of the day. The Moniteur maintains a silence as to
Carrier’s execution, but the other daily papers all agree in
showing that he met it with such courage and dignity that even
the onlookers were reduced to silence.
THE BND
INDEX
Amboise, 251
Amidonier, 248
Ancenis, 87n., 88, 100, III,
124, 153, 158, 159, 165, 167,
168, 262, 270
Andelys, 2, 3, 4, 261
Angers, 91-3, 96, 102, 123-4,
140-2, 149, 150, 153, 186,
252, 262, 265
Antrain, 123, 135
Ardennes, 272
Arras, ix
Artois, Comte d’, 35
Athenas, 116
Aude, 226
Aularien, 113
Aurillac, 229 and n., 268
Avril, 131, 136-7, 160, 170,
174, 178
Baboeuf, 130 n., 266
Bachelier, 253
Baco, 39 and n., 154, 259Nn.
Bailly, 206 n.
Barbaroux, 56
Bard, 82
Barére. See Barrére
Barge, 82n., 83
Barrére, ix, 60, 91 n., 140, 179,
219, 220 and n.
Bas-Rhin, 132
Bayeux, 14
Beaudré, 14, 15
Beaufranchet, 154
Beaupréau, 84-7, 99, 262
Beaupuy, 82, 100, 106-8, 183,
185, 269
Beauvoir, 143 and n., 146, 149,
151, 159, 161
Bellegarde, 34
Besné, 23, 24
Besson, 83
Beysser, 11 and n., 12, 13, 16,
18, 19, 66, 79, 154, 244-6,
259 N..
Bignon, 222, 224, 226, 2370.
Billaud-Varenne, 179, 183, 209,
219, 220 and n.
Binel, 177n., 178 n.
Biron, 185 and n.
Blain, 46, 160, 167-8
Blaize, 248
Blois, 251
Blosse, 106
Bé, 228 and\n., 229 n., 231, 255
and n., 258
Boisdeseneit, 147
Bonchamps, 84, 86
Bonnet, 3, 6
Bonneval, 217 and n.
Boudier, 229, 230-1
Bougon, 116 .
Bouin (Boin), 140, 143 and n.,
144-9, 151, 156, 163, Ig2n.
Bourbotte, xv, 80, 84, 90-3,
IIo, 123, 138, 160n., 166n.,
187, I91, 192 n., 198-9,
21I0N., 213, 237n., 251,
255 and n., 262, 265
Bourchotte, 7, 30, 249, 270 n.
Bourg (Bridge), 159
Bourgneit, 229
Bourgneuf, 155, 184, 196
Bouvet, 248
277
278 INDEX
Bréal, 16 Chateaudau (Chateaudeau),
Breard, 27, 189 and n. 165
Bressuire, 250
Brest, 13, 15, 38, 43, 45-6, 52,
58, 60, I10, 113, 124, 133,
187-90, 215
Briére, 104
Brittany, 16, 17, 27, 34-5,
38-9, 42-3, 47, 52-3, 56-7,
71, 75, 175, 187, 190-1, 215,
259
Buzot, 3, 5, 171, 191
Caen, 5, 6, 104, 261
Cadenne, 95
Calvados, 1, 2, 4, 5n.
Cambon (Representative), 82
and n.
Cambon, 82
Cambrai, 126n.
Cancale, 189, 190
Canclaux, 25-6, 56, 66, 77, IIo,
249
Candé, 158
Cannel, 103
Carrier.
Carnot, 60, 91, 139 and n.,
183, 209, 219, 220
Cassel, 81, 82n.
Catheliniére (Cathelineau), 199,
223 and n.
Cavaignac, 450.
Cé. (See Ponts de)
Cené, 146
Ceojon, 19
Chalbos, 103, 124, 250
Challans, 184 and n.
Champenois, 216 n.
Chanterelle, 223 n., 226
Chapelier, 48, 50, 53
Charette (Charette), ix, x, 76,
79, 97, 139, 142, 145-7, 149,
150-2, 168, 179, 185-6, 189,
193, 209, 210, 211n., 212,
2i7, Sibi; Set By S24,
225 0., 251, 259N.
Chateaubriant, 71, 158-9, 165,
168, 170, 187, 198, 201,
203
179,
Chateau-Gonthier, 191
Chateauneuf, 113
Chatillon, 85, 98, 103, 250
Chaumont, 9
Chaux, 253, 256, 270, 276n. |
Cherbourg, 7, 113, 153, 188,
190, 193, 200
Cholet (Chollet), 80, 81, 83-6,
97-9, 103, 107, 199, 222-3,
250, 262, 265
Chouans, 187, 191
Choudieu, 84, 91 n., 92
Clauzel, 237 n.
Clavier, 116
Clisson, 251
Clos-Porcelet, 113
Coblentz, 36
Codrington, 36, 37n., 50, 70
and n.
Collet, 62-3
Collot (d’Herbois), ix and n.,
179, 183, 219
Cominais, 23, 37n.
Cordelier, 126n., 218
Cordier, 63, 68 and n.
Cordier, P. F., 63
Cétes-du-Nord, 7, 23, 29, 36n.,
95, 113, 215 and n., 247
Coustard, 89 and n.
Coutances, 6
| Couthon, 179, 219
Couturier, xiv
Custine, 31
Dechergue, 212
D’Elbée, 84, 86 and n., 192 and
n., 193, 196, 250-1
Delsol, 268
Derieu (Derrieu), 21, 40
D’Hautrive, 192 and n.
Dinant (Dinan), 23-4, 36n.,
370., 71, 95, 187
Dol, 14, 123, 135, uid 190
Dollans, 123
Doué, 250
Dubayet, 77-8, 97 and n., 112,
249
INDEX
Dubois, 192 and n.
Ducondic, 22
Dufermon (Fermont), 48, 50,
53, 56
Dufour, 196, 270
Duhem, xiv
Dumouriez, 31
Duplessis, 53, 245
Duquesnoy, 194, 221: and n.,
222
Durand, 196
Du Roy, 3, 6, 17
Dutruy, 107, 123, 126n., 142-4,
145 and n., 149, 151-2, 155,
161-2, 163 n., 169, 188, 192-
3, 206-7
Duval, 21 and n.
Ercé, 20
Ernée, 104, 123
Eure, 1, 2, 261
Evreux, 3, 261
Fayau, 84
Fermont. See Dufermon
Finistére, 7, 36, 113, 131, 190,
215 and n., 247, 261
Flavigny, 218
Forest of Princé, 107, 124, 189
Forget, 216 n.
Fougéres, 57, 72, 112, 123, 187,
I9l
Fouquet, 223 n. 224
Fouquier-Tinville, xiv
Fournez, 6
Francastel, 80, 89, 90-2, 126 n.,
166n., 168, 2Ion., 213, 254
and n., 262, 265
Fréron, ix, xiv, 236 and n., 266
Freston, 248
Garnier (of Saintes), 113, 270
Garnier, 166n., 216n.
Garrau, 126n., 164Nn.,
Gibert, 53
Gillet, 45, 67, 88, tor n.,
201 N., 253, 254 and n.
Gohier, 18, 28
113,
279
Goullin, 201n., 227 and n.,
253-4, 256n., 270, 271 and
n., 276n.
Goupilleau, 275
Gournve, 248
.| Grande-Lande, 151
Grandmaison, 227 and n., 255
and n., 256 and n., 257, 258
and n.
Granville, 104 n., 265, 275
Gravelle, 43, 187
Grenville(Granville,Greenville),
23 and n., 24, 28-9, 36, 37 n.,
50
Grignon, 126n.
Guermur (Guermeur),
244, 246
Guétant, 148
Guernsey, 95
Guillaume, 107, 149
18, 37,
Halper, 245
Hamelin, 22
Haxo, 106, 123-4, 126, 135, 139
142-4, 145 and n., 146-9,
151-3, 155-6, 158, 161-2,
168 and n., 169 and n., 183,
184 and n., 188, 202 n., 207,
269, 270
Hector, 167
Hentz, 72-4, 77, 80, 93, 96,
100, 126n., 164N.
Hérault, de Séchelles, 53, 58-9,
60, 69n., 74, 79N., 269 n.,
272 Nn.
Héraut (Hérault), 13, 18, 19,
244, 246
Herbignal, 37
Héron, 69
Hervé, 14
Honfleur, 6
Houché (Huchet),
and n.
Houdet, 212
222, 223
Ille-et-Vilaine, 7, 20, 21n.,
31-2, 36, 49, 50, 133, 148,
246-7, 261, 266
Indre-et-Loire, 90
280 INDEX
Indret, 153 Lecointre (of Versailles), 1,
Trac, 160 79 Nn.
Le Coz, 20, 69n.
Jacotot, go-1 Lefébre, 65
Jehan, 53 Légé, 76, 149, 151
Jersey, 95, 188 Leger, 216n.
Jullien (of Dréme), 94 n
Jullien (M. A.), 94and n., 189n.,
217N., 262, 267Nn., 271
Jouvois, 149
Joznet, 270, 271 n.
Kervélégan, 191
Kléber, 82, 96, 106, 168, 170—1,
198, 201, 202 and n., 203,
204 N., 269, 272
La Bruyére, 83
La Chataigneraye, 250
Lacoste, 261
Lacour, 273
La Fléche, 142, 153
La Fleurie, 51
La Gravelle. See Gravelle
La Guerche, 65-6
Laignelot, 197 and n., 215,
268
La Manche. See Manche
Lambertye, 221 n., 223 n., 224,
225 and n.
Lanjuinais, 48, 50, 53, 56
Lanson, 248
Larcher, 30
Laroche, 248
Larochejacquelin, 167, 199
La Romagne, 81
La Royerie (La Rouerie ?), 51
Laval, 101-2, 108, I10, 123,
165, 187, 191, 265
Lebatteux (Le Batteux), 131-2,
166 n., 172 n., 173-4, 175 and
n., 176 and n., 177 and n.,
189 n., 216N., 275
Leblois, 238
Le Bon, ix, 181 n.
L’Echelle, 72, 74, 77, 83, 96 and
n., 98-9, If0 and n., 240,
251-2, 261, 269
Legendre (of Paris), 234
Lemay, 248
Le Mans, 158, 164, 170, 265
Lepelletier, 117, 128 and n.,
129
Leplanche, 187, 213, 215 and n.
Leroux, 219
Les Sables, 107, 123, 145, 162,
163 and n., 164n., 192, 206
and n., 207, 249
Lésage-Senault, xv
Les Herbiers, 81, 179, 193
Le Tellier. See Tellier
Letourneux, 154
Levasseur (of Sarthe), 138-9,
151, 153
Levot, 248
' Lindet, 3, 6, 179, 219
Loire, 87, 100, 11, 120, 122,
124, 138-9, I41, 146, 149,
150, 152-3, 159, 160-1, 165,
167, 169, 170, 178, 186, 188,
214, 251, 265
Lower-Loire (Loire-Inférieure),
7, 106, 156, 159, 179, 181,
199, 213, 23701., 247, 259,
261, 265-6, 274
Lorient, 27, 38, 54, 71, 93, 94,
107, 127, 153, 190
Louazal, 20
Loyer, 251
Lucas, 32
Lugon, 81-2, 85, 103, 249
Lusignan, 222
Lyons, ix, 35 and n.
Machecoul, 124, 135, 147, 155,
i 183, 193, 209, 264
Maignet, ix n.
Malestroit, 178 n.
Manche, I, 113
Manella, 248
Marais de Bouin, 143 and n.
INDEX
Marat, 117, 128-9
Marceau, 103, 171, 185—6, 198,
202 and n., 203, 204 and n.,
267, 272
Marcilly, 224
Marie-Antoinette, 224
Marigny, 106, 109
Mates (Bridge), 158, 161
Mayence (Garrison), 81-2 and
n., 96, 98, 104, 105 and n.,
172 0., 173, 249, 269, 270
Mayenne, 142, 158
Maublanc, 19
Meaulle, 75, 116
Melet, 24
Melun, 261
Merlin (of Douai), 55 n.
Merlin (of Thionville), 76-78,
79 and n., 81-2, 84, 88, 91
and n., 92, 96-9, III, 260,
275 Nn.
Mesliérs, 202 n.
Michel, 212
Milhaud, xv
Minée, 118,
and n.
Minihi, 212 ~
Miramont, 269
Montaigu, 74, 76, 81, 85, 249,
261-2
Montaut, 154
Montford, 72
Montoire, 170
Mont S. Michel, 69, 74
Moguet, 216 n.
Morbihan, 1, 7, 36, 67, 113,
126-7, 131-2, 135-7, 159,
160-1, 168, 170, 172-3, 179,
181, 188, 190, 213-4, 237 2.,
247, 261, 265, 273
Mortagne, 76, 81, 86, 97, 99,
120, 122,
274
250
Moulin, 165, 166 and a.,
167 n.
Mousset, 34
Moutier, 187
Mouviou, 109
Muller, 103
Musseys, 192 and n.
281
Nantes, vii, 19, 35, 45, 52, 57-9,
60, 66-7, 69, 72-3, 75-7, 79N.,
85, 87-9, 92, 96, 97 N., 100-2,
I09g, II0, 111 and n., 112,
115, 118-9, 121-5, 127, 13I-—
2, 132-9, 140 and n., 141 and
N., 142, 144, 147, 149, 150-65,
166n., 167, 169, 170-2, 175,
176 and n., 177, 178 and n.,
179, 184-6, 191, 193-6, 198-
9, 201 N., 204, 205Nn., 206,
209, 210-1, 213, 216 and n.,
218-9, 221-3, 224 and n.,
226 and n., 227 and n., 228,
232, 237 and 0., 249, 251-3,
254 and n., 255, and n., 256
and n., 257 and n., 259 n.,
261-2, 264-5, 270, 273 Nn,
& —
Niort (Nort), 107, 113, 159, 167
Noirmoutier, 86 n, 90 , 93, 107,
123-5, 135, 140, 142-3, I51-
2, 155-6, 163 and n., 168,
183, 188, 191-3, 196, 265
Oliver, 230~1
Orange, ix
Orne, I
Oudon, 100, 159, 262
Paimboeuf, 90, 148
Paris, 6, 28, 37, 39n., 50, 58,
7On., 71 N., 74, 89, 138, 154,
180-I 193, 200N., 204-5,
207, 220, 232-5, 237 and n.,
253, 258, 260n., 261, 268,
270, 276
Paters, 248
Peaux, 184
Penée, to
Périer (Pérrier), 159, 161
Pétion, 6 and n., 56, 191
Philippeaux, 45, 116,
254 0., 272 and a,
Piet, 145
Pillau, 248
Pinet, Atné, 80, 90, 92, 262,
265
Pitot, 155
Pitt, 23, 24, 29, 50
253;
282
Pitt (Nephew), 23-4, 29, 36n.
Plélan, 16, 42
Ploiiers (Ploiier), 16, 32, 34,
37, 57
Pocholle, 1, 6-7, 17, 46-8, 51,
55-6, 59, 61, 69, 94, 240-1,
248, 261, 265
Pontorson, 123, 135
Ponts de Cé, 124, 138
Ponx, 162
Port-Saint-Pére, 83, 89, 183-5,
194-5
Poupart, 270
Prieur (C.A. of Céte d’Or), 5
and n., 10, 17, 60, 72-4, 77,
80, 91, 93, 96, 100, 183 and n.,
219
Prieur (of Marne), 1, 60, 71,
93-4, 113, 123, 126n., 133,
138, 160n., 163n., 1647n.,
166n., 179, 183n., 191,
192 0., 213, 215, 220, 237 n.,
240, 265, 267
Quimper, 16, 71, 191
Quimperlé, 71
Raffon, 156 n.
Réal, 236 and n.
Rédon (Rhédon), 37, 57, 71,
131-2, 137, 159, 170, 172-3,
175, t7OR., 177, "598 n.,
273 n.
Rennes, 6, 11-3, 15-38, 40, 42,
45-8, 50-1, 53-5, 57, 59,
61-71, 92, 104, II0, 112-3,
133, 154, 159, 160, 187, 198,
2023, 240, 244, 246-8, 251,
261, 272
Richelot, 30
Robert, 103, 107, 110, 130
Robespierre, ix, xiii, 236n.,
262
Roche-Bernard (Roche-
Saveur), 137 and n.
Rochelle, 11, 16
Romme, 5 and n., 80 n.
Rossignol, 104, 142, 148, 160,
250
INDEX
Rouans,’ 89
Rouen, 2-4, 261
Ruelle, 45, 88-90, 254 n.
Rullant, 248
Ruperon, 22, 41
Sabarthe, 231
Saint-André, 71, 219, 220 and
n., 261
Saint-Aubin, 142
Saint-Brieuc, 21, 40-1, 51, 57,
71, 127, 135, 188
Saint-Columbine, 221
Saint-Domingo, 271 n.
Saint-Florent, 86-7, 99, 100,
III, 138, 165, 166n., 167 n.,
223 Nn.
Saint-Fulgent, 250
Saint-Georges, 87
Saint-Just, 219
Saint-Leger, 97, 195
Saint-Malo, 7-10, 13, 14andn.,
15, 26-7, 33; 37-8, 51, 61,
94-5, 113, 187, 189, 241-3,
247, 261, 274
Saint-Martin, 190
Saint-Michel. See Mont S.
Michel
Saint-Pazaune, 162, 184
Saint-Philibert, 195
Saint-Servan, 15, 20, 37 N., 51,
57, 69n., 187, 242, 261
Salle, 56
Sambat, 236
Samuel, 212
Savenay, 170, 178, 186, 265
Saulnier, 236
Saumur, 103, 123, 138,
264
Seine-Inférieure, 1, 261
Sévestre, 64
Sévre, 250
Souches, 167
Stofflet, 167
142,
,
Tallien, xiv, 236 and n., 266
Tandy, 150
Targe, 83
INDEX
Tellier (Le Tellier), 13, 30
Tempié, 43
Thevet (-Leyser), 42, 68 and n.
Thirion, xiv
Thomas, 120 n., 216, 252
Thouars, 250
Tiffauges, 81, 86, 97, 250
Tilly, 202 n., 269
Tinguy, 192 and n.
Topino-Lebrun, 236
Torfou, 251
Toulon, 27 and n., 28
Tours, 123, 138, 236N., 251
Tréhouard (Tréhouart), 9,
17 0., 27, 1606n., 173-4, 175
and n., 176, 189 and n., 190
and n., 215, 232, 271, 272
and n., 275
Tribout, 13, 15, 166n., 170,
172, 175, 176 and n., 177
and n., 189, 272, 273 n.
Tronjolly, 201 n., 226 and n.,
227, 234, 255N., 257 and n.,
258-9
Turreau (Representative), 76
and N., 77; 79-82, 84, oI-2,
97, 110, 160n., 166n., 191,
I92n., 198-9, 210N., 213,
237 0., 262, 265
Turreau (General-in-Chief),
76n., 126n., 166n., 168 n.,
188-9, 202n., 210n., 218,
223, 265
283
Tussaud, 269
Tyrau, 83
Vallet, 87
Vannes, 71, 168, 188
Vaucel (Vauchal), 24, 29, 37
Vaugeois, 222, 226
Vauquelin, 90-1
Vendée, vii, viii, 35, 37, 57, 78, —
82 n., 105, III, 117, 119, 123,
126n., 135, 139, 153, 156,.
158, 165n., 174, 191, 220,
221 and n., 236n., 264, 265,
271
Vergues, IIo
Verneiul, 46
Vernon, 154
Vilaine (River), 159, 165, 168,
207
Villebougue, 20
Villenave, 200 n., 206n.
Vimeux, 83, 106, 142, 148 and
n., 149, 219, 269
Vitré, 17, 37, 43, 51, 57; ©7, 72;
112, 187
Wessel, 31
Westermann, 87, 100, 167-9,
220, 271
Wimpften
50
(Wimphen), 49,
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